Oral history interview with Lauch Faircloth, July 16, 1999

Successful farmer, businessman, and politician Lauch Faircloth discusses the changes in North Carolina's agricultural economy since World War II. Faircloth, who made millions with his flexible, pragmatic approach to business, scoffs at a variety of players in the agricultural scene: stodgy Midwestern farmers, opponents of factory farming, nostalgics, and others. His impatience with people who ignore or resist change seems based on what agricultural innovation can do for poor people by freeing them from punishing work and making food affordable. These people, he maintains, will benefit from the increasing industry consolidation he predicts.