Metakill: And if we didn't have subsidies none of these farms would even exist and we could just have an actual 'countryside' again. Of course, then characters in bad American novels would have no chance to wistfully imagine retiring from their high-paying, heroic job 'once this is over' and going to farm somewhere.
So in other words, it's all a big f**k-up, and wall-to-wall chickens is only part of it.