Andrew Deitrick - Tender Carnivore

Paul Shepard writes, "this view holds that the development of agriculture made it possible for people to abandon the nomadic and uncertain life of hunting and gathering, and that they gladly did so, becoming sedentary. Human well-being was improved and society was stabilized by increasing man’s security from starvation, disease, poverty, uncertainty about the future, and the danger of wild animals, storms, and other natural forces".
I thought it was interesting how the discovery of agriculture had such a large scale effect on humans. We often only associate the rise of agriculture as only a benefactor for easier access to food. The other effects, however, are probably much more influential in how we have evolved. Agriculture has allowed us to worry less about the fight for survival, which ultimately increased our desires for creating things around our lives. It is also interesting to think about the different ways in which we have hurt our agriculture. Our fertilizers and chemicals are harming our soil, ultimately weakening agriculture.