Why has agribusiness and commercial farming replaced the local/family farm? Explain the impact that has had on the quality and cost of the food we eat.

Large scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology. Few people or areas still have pure subsistence economies. Modifications to subsistence agricultural systems have led to farmers in those systems not only producing for themselves but primarily for a market off the farm itself. Agriculture is but one element in a complex structure that includes mining, manufacturing, processing, and the service activities of tertiary, quaternary, and quinary sectors.