Final Food Assignment: Our "New-Found Livelihood" (first draft)

http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer

Over the course of our evolution, human beings have developed these unique and complex brains; as a result we have art, literature, math, science. We have an entire world of academics and learning that was previously unheard of on earth, amongst other species and human beings alike. But how; why did this come to pass and what allowed us the luxury to persue these "New-found livelihood"'s? Since the creation of agriculture the human brain made room for more "noble" quests, but with it also came the difficulty of class difference, a sense of ownership of the natural land, population increase, and "dramatic changes in our smug self image" (The Worst Mistake in the History of the human race, Jared Diamond). In this day and age we have seen a dawn of new problems; the food industry is entirely out of our hands and thrown to wealthy, profit-bent capitalists. Of course they don't actually do the work themselves; instead they pay migrant farm workers low wages and systematically demolish the beautiful gifts given us by mother earth. And, worst of all, they are paid beneath minimum wage to ravage our earth for its natural resources which, at this point, have been taxed to non-repair.This system with which we handle food is unsustainable and it sacrifices the wellbeing of others, plants and animals included, for a specific standard of living that people feel entitled to. In order to allow for universal equality and environmental prosperity we must revert to a more, hunter-gatherer way of surviving in which food is not grown in excess, and we control all that we put into our bodies.

Before we approach the whole concept of Hunter-Gathering from our current, comfortable social stand point, we should first understand why agriculture started in the first place. Agriculture, as we know, allows for mass production of select crops in one region; but what change would stimulate the need for such methods of survival? Professionals have noticed that as our ancestors numbers multiplied, so did their demand for food, and thus, we now use agricultural farming methods to feed the masses. Instead of going through the laborious task of finding food day by day, we can now sit back and relax comfortably and dawdle around with other such life difficulties that have arrived as a result mass farming. For our still relatively simple ancestors, agriculture meant "an efficient way to get more food for less work" (The Worst Mistake in the History of the human race, Jared Diamond). For us on the other hand, agriculture is a standard of living that most individuals would not be willing to sacrifice.
Of course, like any system, agriculture has its benefits; "agriculture is an efficient way to get more food for less work. Planted crops yield far more tons per acre than roots and berries. Just imagine a band of savages, exhausted from searching for nuts or chasing wild animals, suddenly grazing for the first time at a fruit-laden orchard or a pasture full of sheep" (The Worst Mistake in the History of the human race, Jared Diamond). It also allowed us the liberty to lounge about and relax, which as we all have seen, can, if left unproductive, lose its appeal after some time. Thus began the world of art, mathematics, and science. Although these "new-found livelihoods" have developed a reputation in our culture, for granting pleasure, there are many more things we can do to satisfy ourselves.

But, as we spend our idle time reading our books, creating our artistic masterpieces, and ultimately searching for individual happiness, somebody else is doing that work, picking our fruits and vegetables, and slaughtering our meat.