This is not really the case though. Humans in the past, even hunter-foragers (so therefore humans for most of human history) typically had an abundance of food

This is not really the case though. Humans in the past, even hunter-foragers (so therefore humans for most of human history) typically had an abundance of food and didn't have to work hard for it. We just destroyed all the food-rich ecosystems that used to sustain us before agriculture became widespread.