Nowhere does this article talk about anything environmental. It might be an interesting article about work conditions, but it says nothing about the supposed subject of the Green Room series. Nice editing, Slate!

the notion that small family farms are inherently "greener" and more beautiful.

the article is spot on, regarding its basic premise

larger operations - whether its a farm, a factory, or a governmental entity - are more likely to acquant themselves and comply with prevailing regulations regarding worker safety, minimum wage, handling of pesticides, various aspects of labor law, etc.

these factors are called 'administrative overhead' - and this is typically where the one man operation, or the family business, runs afoul of "best practices"

an extreme comparison - corporate farms are SUPER concerned about waste, and pioneered activities such as "no till" (to reduce topsoil loss) and laser levelling of cropland (to reduce water waste. in comparison, subsistence farmers, 3rd world farmers, illiterate farmers care nothing about these factors - at the lowest level, the practice slash and burn farming - they cut down and burn native plants to provide "free fertilizer", then walk away from the farm plot after 2 or 3 crops, leaving it to erode, moving on to another slash and burn opportunity.