Farm subsidies are a serious inefficiency, yes. But I can't help feeling that getting rid of them would be worse, because they're there partly for the same reas

Farm subsidies are a serious inefficiency, yes. But I can't help feeling that getting rid of them would be worse, because they're there partly for the same reason many other inefficiencies exist: risk mitigation. Nobody wants to put all their eggs in one basket, especially if it's someone else's basket. And from what I hear of high-yield food production, the good baskets all have problems down the line. Meat has disease and animal rights activists, fish has chemical pollution and overharvesting, fruit has pollination and insecticide issues, grain has crop rotation neglect and nutritional deficiencies. Add to that the issues global trade is facing, such as rising fuel costs, treat of piracy, troublesome weather, looming threat of magnetosphere and solar interference, and politicians, and you can understand why I'd be reluctant to designate Africa as the world's breadbasket. Perhaps I've just watched too much TV, but food is one of the last things I want outsourced.