A Bold Decision
Jocelyn Li
When the first humans roamed the earth, hunting and gathering was the standard form of survival. Studies have shown that hunter-gatherers had healthier bones and teeth than agriculturalists. The transition into farming and agriculture seemed quite unlikely, but there are numerous benefits to growing resources rather than searching for them daily, and humans of the time managed to discover these benefits that caused the conversion into agronomy.
Cultivation proves to be much more efficient in terms of both production rate and time. With the ability to yield masses of a selective crop at a time, it is much easier for a civilization to have a food surplus. A food surplus can not only prevent the risk of starvation but also allow a wider variety of foods, benefitting both the people’s health and the empire’s economy through trade.
Additionally, hunting and foraging for food is time consuming and dangerous. Seeking the necessary living resources can take up to an entire day, and though the hunter-gatherers hardly had any other tasks, it is still extremely tiresome and tedious. With so many wild animals roaming the forests, humans were also vulnerable to deadly attacks.
To avoid risking lives while gathering food, agriculture was a befitting replacement to the hazards of hunting. With the purpose of benefitting the wellbeing of both humans and their country, the agricultural revolution was a daring yet wise deviation from traditional foraging.
