The Agricultural Revolution : The Worst Mistake In Human History

The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for the majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications. There is much controversy over whether or not the introduction of

Health problems did not only stop at diseases, but continued on to physical health as well. Both hunter-gatherers and farmers have to work to obtain food, however farming requires a lot of hard physical labor. Farmers have to work hard to maintain their crops because that is their only food source, and taking care of crops is not easy and it took a toll on their health. It is shown in evidence that farmers had “an increase in degenerative conditions of the spine, probably reflecting a lot of hard physical labor” (Diamond, 118). Between diseases and physical defects farming was making a huge impact on humans’ ability to survive, so much that even life expectancy went down from twenty six years in hunter-gatherers to nineteen years in farming communities (Diamond, 118).

Most people would argue that the transition from hunting and gathering of food to agricultural food production was the best innovation in human history. We are taught to believe that this innovation gave rise to civilization, allowed for more leisure time in which people could then focus on arts and allowed for a higher yielding, more consistent and reliable food source. Despite some of the innovations that sprang from agriculture, upon a closer look, we can see that with the advent of agriculture came class division, gender inequality, less leisure time, overpopulation, diseases, deficient diets and starvation. The transition from hunting and gathering to agricultural food production may have been the worst mistake in human history.

Introduction: The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications.

The replacement of the idle fallow with crops constituted the Agricultural Revolution. It was important because the new types of crops made allowed farmers to feed their animals more, which led to a greater amount of meat and improved diets. It had the greatest effect in England and the Low Countries.

Hunter- gatherers was able to consume many variety of foods, such as animals meat, berries, nuts, roots etc which are high in proteins and fiber. Farmers can only consume the crops they grew, which is limited. Additionally, the main commonly crops are rice, corn, and wheat, which is high in carbs and lacked fiber, vitamins, and proteins. As a result, farmers’ diet consists of carbs and fats, but no vitamins or proteins. The second risk is limited crop production. Farmers are easily opened to risk of starvation if their crops fail to grow. The final risk to agriculture is epidemic diseases. Agricultural encouraged farmers to get together in crowded societies in order to trade their crops, which can easily lead to spread of contagious diseases and

Since the beginning of human development humans have been revolving around agriculture. It is known that, “Archaeologists and palaeontologists have traced the origins of farming to around 10,000 years ago” (Mason). This is truly remarkable to believe that the revolution as a whole may pivot on this period so long ago. Once this happened agriculture began popping up all around the ancient world spreading like wildfire. This planting of crops and domestication of animals allowed people to develop specialization because not everyone had to forage anymore. This allowed

It says the agricultural revolution is marked down in history for one of our greatest changes.

The revolution is surrounded by many inventions including fertilizers and pesticides. It is through these innovations that developed countries were able to feed their people (Standage, 199). As Standage refers to it, feeding the world. Standage's descriptions of this revolution clearly indicate that developed countries achieved what they have by feeding their people first. As such, food can be used for the betterment of the nation. Through the book, the writer focuses on the impacts of agriculture on various aspects of a human's life. The main audience seems to be the people (leaders) who have the role in making and implementing food

By 1750 U.S was mainly agricultural, this meant the country was essentially pre-industrial and domestic. According to our text 9 out of every 10 Americans lived on a farm (2). Households were generally engaged in subsistence farming and production was done mostly for home consumption. America had an immeasurable amount of fertile unused land that the government gave away (2). At the time of George Washington's inauguration in 1789 the U,S population comprised of 4 million people. The population had doubled to 8 million at the time of the War of 1812 and then again to 16 million in 1835. This rapid population growth did not stop until 1858, we did however continue to increase in number just at a slower pace, hitting our 100 million mark in 1915, and 300 million in 2006 (3). As the population rapidly increased so did the output of farm labor.

Journal #1. Page 32-“The era of human history when agriculture was the most important of all productive technologies and the foundation for most human societies.”

2. The agricultural revolution was a decisive turning point in human history because of many reasons. Agriculture supported larger populations because it was possible to domesticate enough food for everyone. Another bonus of the agricultural revolution was that it led into a explosion of technological innovation which provided us with more technologies and techniques such as pottery and weaving.

I disagree on the topic of the “Agricultural Revolution” being the worst mistake in human history. According to the author, agriculture, made humans weak where as hunting and gathering made humans stronger. With hunting and gathering, the human population was very limited because the hunters and gatherers were always moving and had to be strong. With the introduction of agriculture, the human population was able to grow due to the fact that communities of hunters and gatherers were able to settle down and grow food. The only defect of setting down was the idea of quantity over quality. The human population was able to grow significantly due to the ability to grow crops for acres of land instead of searching for food. However, the quality of

Welcome to the age of an agricultural revolution as everyday biotechnology continues to bring innovation to human’s most basic needs – food. Food is essential to any living organism, providing energy for our production and nutrients for our protection. Without this fundamental element, life cannot exist. Our lack to produce our own energy, like plants, causes us to become dependent on others for survival. Humans existence is attributed only to the million years of evolution our food source underwent to sustain our survival. Changing the primary nature of our food source, whether it is plant or animal, directs mankind in a dangerous future if our food dependency is permanently hampered. Welcome to the age of an agricultural devolution

When societies began farming, food surpluses were often developed. This caused an urgency to develop proper food storage so food could be kept until needed. These surpluses meant that societies would always hold enough food to feed everyone, so that no one would starve or be forced to skip meals. With proper food storage, food could be kept longer than it had been until this point. Again, though, for each of these positive results of agriculture there is a negative one to counterbalance it.