i think something else that is part of this is common to almost all of southern europe, with the exception of maybe bulgaria and greece
small plot farms are very very common, in italy, number one in the world for 5 acre farm size and romania is not far behind and then you look across the balkans and they also have a lot of small plots and to some extent also portugal and spain (especially on the islands)
they are all growing tomatoes and capsicum and corn to feed pigs and keeping small flocks of sheep and small dairies, making their own cheeses and pickles and mostly selling directly to local distributors and not exporters
mostly the grain growing is for export, and all these small plot farmers eat from their own product or trade with neighbours