Great article, thanks! Farmer's (and their families) were notoriously hard to control so the only way to consolidate power was to make them dependent on agro-business. And how was that accomplished? Using the federal government to subsidize the synthetic raw materials tempting farmers into their "cheaper" industrial controlled business model... And taking their self-sufficiency with it. If the dust bowl wasn't a warning, not sure the current "food crisis" will be nothing more than another excuse to further consolidate power in the hands of a few...

Thanks for the advice. Guess I should have given proper credit to Michael Pollan, the author who articulated my comment most recently in "The Omnivore's Dilemma." An interesting read, among others. Another one that was interesting: A History of Wealth and Poverty by John P. Powelson, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Colorado. By the way, I shop at the grocery store just like everyone else, but do enjoy a good conspiracy theory, however paranoid that may sound, to expand my thinking...