What's wrong with a city dweller owning a bit of land in the country? Absolutely nothing, as far as we're concerned. Why, we wouldn't mind owning a little farmland ourselves. Nor do we have a problem with urbanites investing time, money or both in a farm operation, even if it's not their main livelihood and even if the farm is thousands of miles away.

But why on earth should taxpayers be involved in the arrangement? And as this report documents, we are involved