> The soil is basically just a substrate to hold water and fertilizer,

This view is incredibly harmful. What lives in the soil is important too, small animals, insects, mushrooms... And the soil supports this. The density, temperature, texture are all factors to it.

Every time I get to the US, I'm aghast at the pitiful taste of the fruits and veggies. The way you are growing things produces volumes yes, but of tasteless empty shells of a plant.

Of course then you put sugar on everything because the raw thing is aweful to eat.

So you get obese people with nutrient deficiency, on top of a dead soil that is an ecological disaster.

Seing only one dimension of something or maximizing productivity always leads to some kind of unbalance, and the effects are far reaching.