My dad was in agriculture. When I was a know-it-all college student I would complain about farm subsidies and how they're inefficient and unfair to tax payers,

My dad was in agriculture. When I was a know-it-all college student I would complain about farm subsidies and how they're inefficient and unfair to tax payers, etc. But he would mention that America should never have a food shortage because of them. We've never outsourced our food to China or OPEC. And now I'm really seeing the wisdom in that. For essential goods, like food, medicine, maybe energy, it makes sense to keep some production local.