I guess I don't understand the distinction you're talking about. Are you saying that people would be inclined to pay more for food they knew had more human hands involved in it?
It's a bizarre future, but I guess we're already seeing people pay 25x for a hand bag if they know it was made in a conflict-free village or something of that nature. I suppose its only natural that our abundance will begin to allow us to start making those sorts of luxury designations for our food as well.
It's exactly that distinction I'm making. Oftentimes automated machinery is better at making things than humans at making the same (furniture, cars, shoes, etc.) but people like buying "crafted" items for various reasons (vanity, support of craftspeople, local economy, what-have-you).
However, the main point is some farmers will find some kind of marketable distinction bigger operations won't be able to leverage (labor intensity or small production varietals "heirloom", etc.) Something which would allow them to fetch a better price and make them viable as a business)
It's a bizarre future, but I guess we're already seeing people pay 25x for a hand bag if they know it was made in a conflict-free village or something of that nature. I suppose its only natural that our abundance will begin to allow us to start making those sorts of luxury designations for our food as well.