Between 1944 and 1950 Walter Goldschmidt (professor of sociology at the University of California) conducted a comparative study of Dinuba and Arvin, two farming communities located 120 miles from each other in the Central Valley. On the surface they were quite similar; both had populations between 4600 and 5000; both were supported by an equal acreage of farmland; both were limited by like ecological constraints. The one significant outward difference being that Dinuba was a small-farm community, while Arvin was surrounded by large Corporate farm holdings.
Inwardly, however, the study revealed fundamental differences between the two. The small-farm community Dinuba had 62 separate businesses; corporate Arvin only 35. Over 50% of Dinuba's work force was self-employed; compared to 30% of Arvins. Less than a third of Dinuba's workers were landless farm laborers; in Arvin nearly two-thirds were. Dinuba generated $4.4 million of annual retail sales; Arvin $2.5 million. Individually Dinubans spent three times as much for household items and building equipment as did the residents of Arvin.
The citizens of Dinuba spent more time and money on the well-being of their community. Dinuba maintained more paved roads and sidewalks, had four elementary schools and one high school to Arvins single elementary school and enjoyed three parks/playgrounds while Arvin had one on loan from a corporation. Dinuba was served by two newspapers both devoting more space to news than Arvin's single newspaper. Clearly the economy of Dinuba's self-employed farmers and businessfolk was more robust than Arvin's and, more importantly, the community as a whole and as individuals shared the benefits of their economy to a greater degree than did Arvin's.
It is just as clear that Mendocino County and its constituent communities more closely resemble the model of Arvin's corporate plantation rather than Dinuba's self-sufficient one. Vast corporate timber holdings are ever the rule; modest locally owned timber lands the exception. Vineyards dominate agriculture with large foreign and domestic corporate wineries controlling a greater percentage of acreage with each passing year. Ukiah's ever growing strip mall along 101 provides for the 'harvesting' of local dollars by national and regional corporate retailers.
The dependency on corporate payrolls creates the illusion for local politicians that corporate participation is the goose that lays the golden egg of Mendocino's rather tarnished economy. Political leaders who do not see viable alternatives to the corporate plantation system will always be susceptible to threats of economic blackmail when attempts are made to enforce local environmental and land use laws on corporate entities. This results in decisions being made by corporate leadersÑwhom we do not elect and seldom seeÑthat effect the economic, environmental, and social well-being of our community.
But we as citizens are not powerless in solving this dilemma. Our individual and collective spending, saving, and investing habits can create a Dinubian economy of self employed citizens who support their community. Dollars spent at corporate grocery outlets support the importation of produce at the expense of the environment and support the exportation of dollars at the expense of our communities and neighbors. Dollars spent at local grocery retailers support those businesses and the local farmers who provide them with produce and do not support environmental cost elsewhere. This is just one example of how our dollars have the power to shape a truly local economy. Farmers, tradespeople and retailers will be answerable for their business and environmental practices. Their profits will flow back to the community and their products will reflect their individual tastes, talents and pride, helping create a truly local culture, freeing Mendocino County from its status as one more outpost of Madison Avenue fad mongering.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1999
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited