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Farmers were chronically underfed to modern times. They never had enough to eat for thousands of years.
by ExpiredLink 13y ago
Farmers were chronically underfed to modern times. They never had enough to eat for thousands of years.
- Sharlin 13y agoYes; it's indeed important to note that the shift to agriculture was a quantity/quality tradeoff. Farming could sustain more people than hunting and gathering, so by pure math, it won over in the end, but the average quality of life decreased for thousands of years, until the industrial revolution.
- jchrisa 13y agoThere's a lot of interesting history around this topic. Anyone have recommendations?
- evincarofautumn 13y agoIshmael by Daniel Quinn is a good soft introduction to the topic, told in parable form. You probably want a proper history book covering the Neolithic Revolution.
- InclinedPlane 13y agoSo was everyone though. The big difference demographically between hunter-gatherers and farmers is that farmers could store enough of their food to eke out a harsh winter or even a lean harvest in a following year. It would be tough but it would let more of them and especially their children survive. Hunter-gatherers had a higher quality of living on average but during the winter their kids died more often.