Way more people work in "the production, transport and prep of food", if the linkages between production processes are considered. Whereas in the 19th century a

Way more people work in "the production, transport and prep of food", if the linkages between production processes are considered. Whereas in the 19th century a plow and a mule was perhaps all that was needed, and very little was needed beyond the services of the farmer's family and the eventual services of a blacksmith or a farrier, a current tractor is composed of myriad of parts, perhaps shipped by different places, produced by different machinery, all of which are also composed of many parts and so on. Agricultural firms also require legal services in order to deal with regulations and possible litigation, financial services in order to hedge against price changes, etc. So how many people do business in foodstuffs? All of them, maybe.