Is it to optimize food production or is it to maintain the ideal of picturesque family farms in an attractive rural setting?

i think it's incredibly important to differentiate between optimisation and maximisation.

or if talking about maximisation, talk about maximisation of nutrients, and health of topsoil, water tables, etc.

otherwise it's just about sacrificing quality for quantity, and we see the dismal results of that all around us, if we look beyond the surface.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty