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Effect Of Agriculture
ESSAY ON EFFECT OF AGRICULTURE
ESSAY ON EFFECT OF AGRICULTURE
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The Neolithic Revolution, more commonly known was the Agricultural Revolution, was an inevitable and evolutionary change for human kind. The domestication of plants and animals was detrimental to the development of man, and created the first civilizations: Catal Huyuk and Jericho. The Agricultural Revolution spurred the development of society, specialization and cultural diversity; however, critics argue that the domestication of animals and plants led to the Bubonic Plague and gluttony. Farming and herding have been proven, otherwise, to have not been associated with the Bubonic Plague, and instead to have improved the accessibility of food and led to the development of the modern world.
The Neolithic Revolution was a turning point. Before
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The domestication of plants and animals resulted in obesity, contributed to global warming, and some critics believe caused the Bubonic Plague. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention over 35%, equal to 79 million, Americans are currently overweight or obese (“Adult Obesity Facts” 1). This is due to poor diets. In addition, food is too easily available; according to the US Library of National Health and the National Institutes of Health, “the number of fast-food restaurants in the country now exceeds 280,000” and that “fast-food retail sales in the United States have soared over 900%” from 1975 to 2004 (“Adult Obesity Facts” 1). Not only are fast food restaurants ubiquitous throughout the world, their food contains a large quantity of preservatives and fillers. When an American diet is compared with a Kalahari Bushmen’s diet, Americans look like glutens. Bushmen consume and average of 2,140 calories a day whereas Americans consume 2,231 to 3,300 calories each day. Humans constantly had to scavenge for our food before development of farming, preventing the accumulation of fat, whereas, nowadays, humans do not even have to leave their cars to get a meal. Farming and herding has promoted unhealthy diets, and it has polluted the ground, air and water. Pesticides, used on crops, pollute water that animals drink, poison the land, and even sicken field
Obesity is very common in America, around 66% of American adults are overweight and nearly 33% are obese, which leads to heart disease, cancer, stroke and many other illness. Furthermore, the consume of fast food is in my opinion one of the worst decisions we can make, the food may be cheaper but it leads directly to overweight problems, and it not only damages our bodies but they undermine local business, farmers, and in the process they support they massive slaughter of animals. Ms. Lappe states “…modern livestock production has steered away toward the industrial-style production to highly destructive overgrazing “(858).By consuming food from fast food industries we support the destruction of lands, and the poor conditions in which the animals we consume are suffering. Moreover, changing from consuming fast food to healthier food is in my opinion a transition every individual should make since we cannot keep supporting the companies that literally destroy our world and our body with our
Andrew F. Smith once said, “Eating at fast food outlets and other restaurants is simply a manifestation of the commodification of time coupled with the relatively low value many Americans have placed on the food they eat”. In the non-fiction book, “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser, the author had first-hand experiences on the aspects of fast food and conveyed that it has changed agriculture that we today did not have noticed. We eat fast food everyday and it has become an addiction that regards many non-beneficial factors to our health. Imagine the wealthy plains of grass and a farm that raises barn animals and made contributions to our daily consumptions. Have you ever wonder what the meatpacking companies and slaughterhouses had done to the meat that you eat everyday? Do you really believe that the magnificent aroma of your patties and hamburgers are actually from the burger? Wake up! The natural products that derive from farms are being tampered by the greed of America and their tactics are deceiving our perspectives on today’s agricultural industries. The growth of fast food has changed the face of farming and ranching, slaughterhouses and meatpacking, nutrition and health, and even food tastes gradually as time elapsed.
It is heart breaking to see an obese American on the street,because one instinctively knows that the obese American is not making the best food choices. We are constantly establishing new and innovative ways for improving society in terms of technological advances and transportation, although as stated from Budiansky we are also to be blamed for transportation and environmental consequences. “A single ten-mile round trip by car to the grocery store or the farmer’s market will easily eat up about 14,000 calories of fossil fuel energy.”(8) Growing food locally and consuming food locally will save a trip to the grocery store. Innovative technologies don’t always have to be the case. Agriculture only makes up 2 percent of our nation’s energy usage,which is used for running farm machinery and manufacturing fertilizer. Using these effectively will allow us to avoid processed foods and reduce the obesity rate. Individuals with food allergies are able to ask farmers about how the food was grown or ask chefs at a restaurant what ingredients were used in a specific dish. As most of us we desire social interaction. Going to a local food market, allows us to meet different individuals that may offer favorable advice for selecting food items. Our lifestyles all come down to ourselves,which means choosing foods that are advantageous toward our health. If we are aware of where the food comes from, it is easier to make those choices that will benefit
12,000 years ago, the discovery of agriculture triggered such a change in society and the way in which people lived that we now call this important era in time the “Neolithic Revolution.” Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles were cast away in favor of more permanent settlements and a reliable food supply. Agriculture helped form cities and civilizations, and because crops and animals could now be farmed to meet growing demand, populations skyrocketed from around five million people 10,000 years ago, to more the more than seven billion people that walk this earth today.1
When we think of our national health we wonder why Americans end up obese, heart disease filled, and diabetic. Michael Pollan’s “ Escape from the Western Diet” suggest that everything we eat has been processed some food to the point where most of could not tell what went into what we ate. Pollan thinks that if America thought more about our “Western diets” of constantly modified foods and begin to shift away from it to a more home grown of mostly plant based diet it could create a more pleasing eating culture. He calls for us to “Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants.” However, Mary Maxfield’s “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, argues differently she has the point of view that people simply eat in the wrong amounts. She recommends for others to “Trust yourself. Trust your body. Meet your needs.” The skewed perception of eating will cause you all kinds of health issues, while not eating at all and going skinny will mean that you will remain healthy rather than be anorexic. Then, as Maxfield points out, “We hear go out and Cram your face with Twinkies!”(Maxfield 446) when all that was said was eating as much as you need.
According to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, "Fast food has had an enormous impact not only on our eating habits but on our economy, our culture, and our values"(3). According to Roni Rabin on any given day, about one quarter of U.S. adults visit a fast-food restaurant. The typical American now eats about three hamburgers each week (2). Schlosser also writes that “thirty years ago Americans spent about six billion dollars annually on fast food. In the year 2000 they spent over one-hundred and ten billion dollars, more than on higher education, personal computers, or new cars (3). The reality of fast food is regarding the spreading and feeding of illness and disease; as well as the inhumane treatment of animals through modern meat farming practices. Our society imagines images of happy animals living on farms where the cows graze in lush green fields and the chickens run around as they please. This vision of free-roaming animals living out their days in sunny fields is very far from the reality. A majority of the animals that are raised for food live miserable lives in dark and overcrowded facilities. These facilities are commonly called "factory farms"(Maguire 5).
c. 8000 B.C.E. was the beginnings of agriculture also known as the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution. Agricultural Revolution transformed human life across the planet. This event demonstrates KC 1.2: I.A because this led to cultivation of plants and domestication of animals that caused creating abundant amount of food supplies. It illustrates the interaction between human and environment, development of technology, settling patterns, and how natural resources gave some lands advantages over others. Agriculture developed independently at different times in different regions. Historians believe that the Agricultural Revolution might have originated from Middle East (ME), although they are not fully sure.
In Richard B. Lee’s article, “What Hunters do for a Living” he takes readers into the world of the !Kung Bushmen who lived in the Kalahari desert. He then documents their gathering and food practices during the late 1960’s. Many decades ago, humans were entirely dependent on gathering and hunting their own food. Vegetables were 60-80% of the !Kung Bushmen’s total diet (Lee, 1968, p. 37). Today, engage in dietary habits including detrimental to our health. We now have genetically modified, heavily processed ready to eat foods that are quick and easy. This adds to our present health concerns because obesity rates are higher than ever. Being overweight or obese creates a snowball effect to other health concerns such as high blood pressure, diabetes,
In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.
Sometime between 10,000 BC, and 3,000 BC, people in different areas of the world developed the knowledge and skills to grow their own crops. This was known as the Agricultural Revolution (also known as the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution). The Agricultural Revolution was a positive event in human history. This is proven because As people got better at farming they created better tools and equipment, which allowed them to farm more land faster. Also, plants and animals were domesticated. Even though, some people disagree the Agricultural Revolution was positive. First of all, the Agricultural Revolution was positive because. The output of food was increased. This proves the Agricultural Revolution was positive because with more food they did
Agriculture was the prevailing economic activity in England and Europe through the early modern era. The agricultural revolution laid a fundamental base for the industrial revolution. If agricultural productivity in England grew between the middle ages and the nineteenth century, then most of it occurred before the mid-eighteenth century. It all started with the “Bing-Bang”, the Black Death of 1348. Followed by new crops and techniques, increases in output and land improvement but also urban growth, agriculture became much more productive. Institutions such as enclosures and large farms are said to have increased productivity by encouraging farmers to adopt those new crops and techniques. However, there is little direct evidence for the actual impact of changes in land tenure on agricultural productivity. Indeed, the consequences of the enclosure movement on agricultural productivity has been a deeply debated topic in English economic history.
The blessing and curse of the Agricultural Revolution is advocated with its augmentation and dissemination. Taking the stipulative definition of “blessing” and “curse” from the original premise, one can only superimpose the layman’s terms of “negative” and “positive”. Upon examination of the two classifications within the Neolithic Period and ancient Mesopotamian civilization one can confirm the premise. Therefore, the agriculture revolution was a blessing and a curse for humanity. Human society began to emerge in the Neolithic Period or the New Stone Age. This new age began around 9,000 B.C.E. by the development of agriculture in the region surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and what is commonly referred to as “The Fertile Crescent” located in West Asia.1 The very development of agriculture had benefited humans by no longer having to move about in search of wild game and plants. Unencumbered by nomadic life humans found little need to limit family size and possessions and settled in a single location for many years. One negative aspect of this settling is that the population increased so much so that wild food sources were no longer sufficient to support large groups. Forced to survive by any means necessary they discovered using seeds of the most productive plants and clearing weeds enhanced their yield.2 This also lead humans to develop a wider array of tools far superior to the tools previously used in the Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age. The spread of the Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Period also cultivated positive aspects by creating connections with other cultures and societies. Through these connections they exchanged knowledge, goods, and ideas on herding and farming.3 Another major positive aspec...
The term civilization refers to what is considered the most advanced stage of structure and social development. One of the biggest shifts that forever changed the fate of the human race was the event of the Neolithic Revolution. The Neolithic Age began sometime between 10,000 and 7,000 B.C.E. The Neolithic Revolution is thought to have been triggered by a shift in climate that allowed peoples in the right locations to begin experimenting with early forms of agriculture. It is important to note that this revolution was not limited to the Cradle of Civilization: the change occurred at approximately the same time period the world over, wherever circumstance was right: for example, peoples all across Mesoamerica began to shift at the same time as others on the opposite side of the world, throughout Asia.
The Ancient world was in demand of technology as it saw a rise in complications to the world generation after generation. One very important form of rise in technology was in agriculture. The Agricultural Revolution saw a number of inventions in Medieval Europe. It saw the introduction of tools like the Heavy plough, the harrow and the mills to name a few. They also came up with new techniques in farming. These inventions and changes had a huge impact on Medieval Europe. It lead to more jobs and also more produce which eventually lead to more income.
Civilization began with agriculture, it allowed nomads to settle down, and form relationships, societies and eventually nations. But as our society developed, so did our means of farming. Whilst modern society greatly differs from our nomadic past, humanity still has fundamental dependence on agriculture.