Well, this Logsdon fellow is at again. Read that link. This guy simply overwhelms me with his good sense and lack of fear of political correctness. I am a stone cold, Libertarian-Capitalist... yet Logsdon's analysis of the "business" of farming is unnerving - if you really take the time to think about it.
Agriculture gave rise to civilization - not the other way around. But most "civilizations" collapse at some point, and reorganize into another that eventually collapses once again... it amazes me that my fellow American's know how much the CD rate at the local bank is, but have no idea what food inventories are across the land, and while I fully recognize that is more likely a shortage of MONEY that causes food shortages, Logsdon's point on SOIL could not be more accurate. Just take a look at Haiti (or Africa, or China) in satellite photos to see what happens when soils are permitted to erode or are over produced.
I am more than an avid gardener, I am almost a rabid gardener. I care for my garden's soil like one of my children, and it returns the favor - we produce most of the vegetables we eat on the farm (not to mention, our meat, milk, and eggs).
I loved his essay, as well as his mind set, and taken a step further - that small scale farming/gardening IS (or could be) a money making enterprise for every family with access to a plot and the interest to work it in that growing stuff is fun, and anything you grow yourself you don't have to buy, or pay for the gas to get back and forth to the store. (A neighbor of ours in Boca Raton, FL, has chickens in their backyard! No big deal in rural Tennessee, but in Boca Raton? Could have knocked me over with a feather.)
You see, I am a big fan and supporter of "family farms" (and all small/family business for that matter... I told you I was a capitalist), but "family farms" means much more expensive food - not everybody is going to support that or can support that. Industrial farming is the low cost producer, no matter how many Farm-Aid concerts we have. Folks that cannot afford family farm prices can certainly grow their own, and all of this is going to come to pass over the next decade or 2 - but it sure would not hurt to motivate people, especially the 11% of the US population now receiving food assistance, in this direction. In the end, as any gardener worth his shovel knows:
If you keep taking the produce out of the garden without putting it back in (if you catch my drift) you won't be taking much out for long. What you are really selling is your soil, and once its gone you can't sell it anymore. Even a capitalist like me can grasp that.
Mr. Logsdon, keep it coming.