Frequently I mention that monoculture is not good in computing or networks, using an analogy to monoculture agriculture. I forget to mention that monoculture is still bad in agriculture, and agriculture has gotten even less diverse in recent years. Plus it has developed a security by obscurity mentality:

They allowed me to see everything but the knocker who actually administers the fatal blow. It’s become more difficult since Sept. 11. The food industry has a new argument, which is partly sincere. They’ve recognized that with such a centralized food supply, somebody dropping a vial of bacterium into a vat of hamburger could reach tens of thousands of people. But it has also become an excuse to keep the prying eyes of journalists away from how our food is made, which is unfortunate because we would be better off if we had more transparency in our food system. If there was a right of access to meat slaughterhouses, they wouldn’t be slaughtering 400 beefs an hour, allowing manure to be smeared on carcasses, and going so fast that live animals get cut open. The best we could do for the safety of our food supply, for the beauty of our landscape and for the quality of our water would be to decentralize meat and agriculture.

We are what we eat: Interview with The Omnivore’s Dilemma" author Michael Pollan, by Ira Boudway, Salon, 8 April 2006.

The article goes on to detail how ignorance about the food supply ("I mean, some people would be shocked to learn that you can’t get a steak without killing a cow.") is widespread among everybody from the end-consumer to members of Congress.