Industrial farming supporters often claim that sustainable agriculture is not an economically viable way to produce food.  They believe large-scale factory farming is the most efficient way to produce huge quantities of cheap food.

What these advocates fail to recognize is that the seemingly low price of industrial food does not include the true costs of production.  These hidden costs include environmental degradation, use of fossil fuels, damage to human health, and the destruction of rural communities.  These costs are not paid by the owners of factory farms; they are paid by residents of the communities in which these operations are located, by taxpayers, and by society as a whole.

The rest of the argument is at Sustainable Tables' economics page.  Loads more links can be found at a site called Journey to Forever.

The end of cheap oil may expose the false efficiency of our incredibly oil-intensive agriculture (fertilizer, machinery, long transit) soon.

Dale Allen Pfeiffer of From the Wilderness outlines the experiences of two countries that have lived through the end of cheap oil: North Korea (bad case scenario) and Cuba (better case scenario).  Invaluable reading, and all the more reason to hold the line against CAFTA now.  These "inefficient" small farms may be key to our survival and progress as a society.