Detrimental Effects for Early Farmers

Key Insight

The Agricultural Revolution, contrary to popular belief, did not offer a better diet to individuals. Humans, as omnivores thriving on varied foods, found that grains constituted only a small fraction of their pre-agricultural diet. A cereal-based diet proved to be poor in minerals and vitamins, hard to digest, and detrimental to teeth and gums, leading to poorer health outcomes for early farmers compared to foragers.

Economic security also diminished for peasants. While foragers relied on dozens of species and could adapt to difficult years by shifting their focus, farming societies often depended heavily on a small variety or even a single staple crop like wheat, potatoes, or rice. This reliance made them highly vulnerable to environmental calamities like failed rains, locust swarms, or plant diseases, leading to starvation for thousands and millions.

Security against human violence also worsened. Early farmers were at least as violent as foragers, if not more so, due to the need for land and the accumulation of possessions. Losing pasture land to raiding neighbors could mean starvation, leaving little room for compromise. Unlike nomadic foragers who could relocate when pressed by rivals, farmers were tied to their fields, houses, and granaries, often leading them to fight 'to the bitter end.' Anthropological and archaeological studies indicate that in simple agricultural societies, human violence was responsible for about 15 percent of deaths, including 25 percent of male deaths, with some societies like the Waorani experiencing up to 50 percent of adult male deaths from violence.