In this chapter students will learn:

• about the connections between how people get their food, how they organize themselves socially, and how their food-getting methods impact the environment.
• the differences between food foragers and food producers.
• about distinct types of foraging based on the resources of a given area.
• which forms of economic production, distribution, and consumption are found in different types of societies.
• the characteristics of food-producing societies, including horticulturalists, pastoralists, intensive agriculturalists, and industrialists.
• that many diverse diets based on nutrient-rich foods can be healthy for the human body.

Introduction
Food procurement and distribution of economic resources lay the foundations for the type of society, including daily schedules, interactions with the environment, models of cooperation, competition, and labor divisions, as well as the economics of a society.

Adaptive Strategies: Food Foragers and Food Producers
Foragers use the available resources in the environment by hunting, fishing, and gathering. Foragers live in bands, divide labor by sex, and have an egalitarian and cooperative system with a lack of specialization. They are nomadic and return to the same locations annually to take advantage of resources. Foragers use an economic system based on generalized reciprocity, or specialized sharing among family and close community members.

Food Foragers
While the lifestyles of various foraging peoples share many traits, there are also major differences based on unique cultural values, beliefs, and practices. Studying foragers can provide insights on foodways, social organization, and human interactions with the environment.

Economic Resources: Who Gets What and How?
A major part of what food-getting strategies has to do with how that food gets distributed to others. Anthropologists use three basic models to understand exchange: reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange.

Food Producers
Types of food production are horticulture, pastoral, intensive agriculture, and industrialism.

The Human Diet
Humans can be healthy eating a wide range of foods, as long as the foods are fresh and not processed.

1. What characteristics distinguish food foragers?

2. What characteristics tend to correlate with the five basic subsistence types?

3. Which food-getting strategy has the least environmental impact, and which has the greatest environmental impact?

4. What are the three basic types of economic systems?

5. What are some of the major changes that have accompanied industrial farming?

6. Since humans everywhere eat different kinds of foods, what seems to be the requirement for a healthy diet?

1. What type of “tool kit” does a modern industrial eater need to survive?

2. Since foraging is the least disruptive to the environment of all the food-getting strategies, why can’t people just live by foraging today?

3. Do alternative food movements today have any similarities to any of the traditional foodways?

4. What are some of the varied responses of modern consumers to the industrial food system?

agriculture a farming technique that can support a large population using advanced tools and irrigation, and requiring more preparation and maintenance of the soil; also known as intensive agriculture

animal husbandry the use and breeding of animals for purposes that benefit humans

balanced reciprocity a form of exchange in which the value of goods is specified as well as the time frame of repayment

band a small egalitarian society of food foragers who live and travel together

biodiversity the variety of life on earth, including plants, animals, and microorganisms; the diversity of living organisms in a given ecosystem, area, or the world

capitalist system a system of economics in which a country’s industry is controlled by private and corporate ownership in order to make a profit

cargo system a political and religious system among the Maya in which members must serve the community in a volunteer position for at least one year; a leveling mechanism

carrying capacity the number of people that can be sustained with the existing resources of a given area

chemical inputs synthetic additives, such as pesticides and fertilizers, that raise the yield of crops in industrial agriculture

city a settlement supporting a dense population with a centralized government, specialization, and socio-economic hierarchy

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) industrial farming enterprises in which large numbers of animals are prepared for human consumption; the basis of conventional meat production

conventional describes food-growing processes in industrial societies in which pesticides and other chemicals are used

domestication shaping the evolution of a species for human use

economics how goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed in a society

egalitarian describes a society in which every member has the same access to resources and status; non-hierarchical

food foragers people who utilize the food resources available in the environment; also called hunter-gatherers

food producers people who transform the environment with the goal of food production, using farming and/or animal husbandry

food production transforming the environment with the goal of producing food using farming and/or animal husbandry

foodways the methods, knowledge, and practices regarding food in a particular society

foraging utilization of food resources available in the environment; also known as food foraging or hunting and gathering

generalized reciprocity a form of specialized sharing in which the value of a gift is not specified at the time of exchange, nor is the time of repayment

genetically modified (GM) altered at the level of the gene; refers particularly to food crops that have been modified by introducing genes from another organism to enhance or create desired traits in the species

glycemic index a measure of the rise in blood glucose (sugar) after eating

horticulturalists food producers who cultivate the land in small-scale farms or gardens

horticulture land cultivation in small-scale farms or gardens

hunter-gatherers people who utilize the food resources available in the environment; also called food foragers

industrialism methods of producing food and goods using highly mechanized machinery and digital information

intensive agriculture a farming technique that can support a large population using advanced tools and irrigation, and requiring more preparation and maintenance of the soil

Inuit Indigenous peoples inhabiting Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland; in Alaska, the term Eskimo remains commonly used while in Canada and Greenland, it is a racial slur

Kula Ring a system of balanced reciprocity in which gifts circulate among trading partners in the Trobriand Islands

leveling mechanism a social and economic obligation to distribute wealth so that no one member of a group accumulates more than anyone else

market economy an economic system in which prices for goods and services are set by supply and demand

money anything that is used to measure and pay for the value of goods and services

monoculture a technique used in industrial farming in which a single crop is planted on a large number of acres

multipurpose money commodities that can be used for other practical purposes besides simply as money

negative reciprocity a deceptive practice in which the exchange is unequal; an exchange in which the seller asks more than the value of the item

nobles high-status members of a society, with rank often inherited

nomadic moving within a large area frequently to access food resources

Nutrition Transition a shift in diet and activity level that accompanies modernization and results in obesity and related health problems

pastoralism a way of life that revolves around domesticating animals and herding them to pasture

peasants low-status members of a society who farm for a living

potlatch Pacific Northwest Coast gift-giving ceremony with great cultural significance

reciprocity a set of social rules that govern the specialized sharing of food and other items

redistribution an economic system in which goods and money flow into a central entity, such as a governmental authority or a religious institution

sexual division of labor the division of tasks in a community based on sex

social capital the idea, developed by Pierre Bourdieu, that skills and resources give an individual status by virtue of their membership in a social group

social density the frequency and intensity of interactions among group members in a society

social distance the degree of separation or exclusion between members of different social groups

special-purpose money items used only to measure the value of things and lacking a practical purpose

specialization the development of certain skills that others in the group do not share; characteristic of complex societies

subsistence food procurement; basic food needs for survival

swidden (slash-and-burn) cultivation a farming technique in which plant material is burned and crops are planted in the ashes

terraced describes a farming technique that uses graduated steps on a hilly terrain

technology the tools, skills, and knowledge used by people to survive

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) the collective and cumulative knowledge that a group of people has gained over many generations living in their particular ecosystem

transhumance a pattern of seasonal migration in which pastoralists move back and forth over long distances, to productive pastures

Foodways

Anderson, S.E. (2005). Everyone Eats: An Understanding of Food and Culture. New York, NY: New York University Press.

Counihan, C., & Van Esterik, P. (2013). Food and Culture: A Reader (3^rd edition). New York, NY: Routledge.

Harris, M. (1985). Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Lee, R.B. (1969). Eating Christmas in the Kalahari. Natural History, December 1969, 60-63.

Mintz, S.W., & Du Bois, C.M. (2002). The anthropology of food and eating. Annual Review of Anthropology, 31(1), 99-119.

Diet

DuFour, D.L., Goodman, A.H., & Pelto, G.H. (2013). Nutritional Anthropology: Biocultural Perspectives on Food & Nutrition (2^nd edition). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Messer, E. (1984). Anthropological perspectives on diet. Annual Review of Anthropology, 13(1), 205-49.

Popkin, B. (2001). The nutrition transition and obesity in the developing world. The Journal of Nutrition, 131(3), 8715-8735.

Peters, C. J., Picardy, J., Darrouzet-Nardi, A. F., Wilkins, J. L., Griffin, T. S., Fick, G. W., & Méndez, E. (2016). Carrying capacity of US agricultural land: Ten diet scenarios. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 4.

Economics

Beck, M.G. (1993). Potlatch: Native Ceremony and Myth on The Northwest Coast. Anchorage, AK: Alaska Northwest Books.

Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. London, UK: George Routledge and Sons.

Mauss, M. (1954). The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co.

Wilk, R.R. & Cligett, L.C. (2007). Economies and Cultures: Foundations of Economic Anthropology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Food-Centered Ethnographies

Cho, L. (2010). Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

McIlwraith, T. (2012). ‘We Are Still Didene’: Stories of Hunting and History from Northern British Columbia. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

Stull, D.D. & Broadway, M. (2013). Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America (Case Studies on Contemporary Social Issues) (2^nd edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Weismantel, M. (1988). Food, Gender, and Poverty in the Ecuadorian Andes. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Anthropology of Food links (compiled by Tim Roufs, University of Minnesota, Duluth)
d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anthfood/index_online.html#title

Anthropology of Food (open access web journal)
aof.revues.org

Culture and Agriculture (a section of the AAA)
aaanet.org/sections/cultureandagriculture

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - Pastoralism in the New Millennium
fao.org/docrep/005/y2647e/y2647e02.htm

Human Relations Area Files – Hunter-Gatherers (Foragers)
hraf.yale.edu/resources/faculty/explaining-human-culture/hunter-gatherers-foragers-2

Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN)
foodanthro.com

Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA)
econanthro.org

1. Describe the characteristics of a forager society.

2. What are the differences between generalized reciprocity, balanced reciprocity, negative reciprocity, and redistribution?

3. Describe the characteristics of a horticultural society.

4. Describe the characteristics of a pastoral society.

5. Describe the characteristics of an intensive agricultural society.

6. Describe the characteristics of an industrial society.

7. How has changes in subsistence strategies affected the human diet?

8. What is the connection between subsistence strategy and social organization?

9. What is a market economy?

10. What is the purpose of a potlatch?

Answers

1. Your answer should discuss aspects of the subsistence strategy, social organization, and relationship with the environment. These can include:

• foraging of local resources is the primary subsistence strategy.
• living in small groups called bands.
• groups being generally egalitarian with a sexual division of labor.
• groups being generally nomadic.
• These can be foragers who continuously relocate to new resources or collectors who gather resources at temporary base camps and transport foods to a main locale.

See pages 242-247 of your text.

2. Your answer should describe each of the four methods of transferring goods and services between communities and community members:

• Generalized reciprocity
• When resources are equally shared between members of a group.
• Balanced reciprocity
• An exchange in which the value of goods and the time frame for repayment are specified
• Negative reciprocity
• The exchange of goods and services where the seller is deceiving the buyer as to the true value of the exchange.
• Redistribution
• The collection of resources in a centralized location that are then redistributed to the population.

See pages 245-247, 250-251, and 258-260 of your text.

3. Your answer should discuss aspects of the subsistence strategy, social organization, and relationship with the environment. These can include the following:

• Groups that practice small-scale farming.
• Groups that live in sedentary locations that relocate when the local resources are exhausted.
• Groups that have basic social hierarchies based on having more objects, along with a sexual division of labor.
• Groups that practice general and balanced reciprocity.
• Groups that practice swidden cultivation.

See pages 247-251 of your text.

4. Your answer should discuss aspects of the subsistence strategy, social organization, and relationship with the environment. These can include the following:

• Groups that practice animal husbandry.
• Groups that practice seasonal transhumance to relocate herds to most suitable locales.
• Groups that are considered semi-sedentary.
• Men often followed herds in seasonal camps, while women stayed at home base.
• The utility of live animals generally outweighed the benefits of slaughtering animals for meat.

See pages 251-253 of your text.

5. Your answer should discuss aspects of the subsistence strategy, social organization, and relationship with the environment. These can include the following:

• Farming where the land has little to no fallow period.
• Soils require maintenance through fertilizers, crop rotation, and water management.
• Groups that use a variety of domesticated cultivars and animals.
• Groups that are considered truly sedentary.
• These groups do not relocate habitation areas.
• A complex set of social hierarchies generally based on politico-religious leadership.
• Groups that practice a form of redistribution that allows for individuals to practice a non-agrarian occupation.
• Often associated with a market economy.

See pages 253-250 of your text.

6. Your answer should discuss aspects of the subsistence strategy, social organization, and relationship with the environment. These can include the following:

• Large-scale farming that requires machines to maintain production.
• Also reliant on bio-chemicals.
• The use of monocultured crops that emphasize quantity of produce in a limited space.
• A separation between food producers and consumers.
• Few people produce food for a large segment of society.
• Negative environmental impacts.
• Association with a market economy.

See pages 260-264 of your text.

7. Your answer should acknowledge that the shift toward agriculture has had many negative impacts for individuals, despite larger quantities of food being produced. These could include

• the fact that agricultural foods regularly decrease the level of nutrition.
• the increased emphasis on quantity of food and its association with obesity.
• the shift to domesticated plants and animals and the decrease in quality of health and dental hygiene.
• the rise in unproven fad diets (e.g., Paleo diet and raw food diet).

See pages 264-265 of your text.

8. Your answer should be based upon the premise that the subsistence strategy determines the carrying capacity and mobility of peoples.

• The greater the carrying capacity, the more people can live in an area.
• The greater the mobility, the more people can relocate to new areas if they require additional food or resources.
• As population increases and mobility decreases, a greater number of people are living in a concentrated area and they have less of an ability to relocate if there are fewer resources or interpersonal conflict.
• In these situations, groups develop social mechanisms (e.g., reciprocity, redistribution systems, social hierarchies) to ensure the group can function and survive.

See pages 243-248 of your text.

9. The market economy is a formal and bureaucratic system. This generally includes

• values of goods and services that are determined by the laws of supply and demand.
• the existence of taxes that are paid to the government and redistributed to the rest of society.
• the use of money in exchanges instead of barter.
• This can include special-purpose money or multipurpose money.

See pages 259-260 of your text.

10. Your answer should note that a potlatch is a ceremony held by Northwest-Coast Indigenous peoples. A host family or community would invite guests to witness and participate in the event. It would include feasting, dancing, and gift giving. It had several purposes that include

• the redistribution of wealth within and between communities.
• the validation of an event of significance.
• Selection of a new chief.
• A person obtaining an Indigenous name.
• Marriage.
• the earning of status between communities.

See pages 250-251 of your text.

1. Subsistence strategies can be broadly divided between

• a) foragers and collectors.
• b) hunter-gatherers and industrialists.
• c) food foragers and food producers.
• d) pastoralists and horticulturalists.

2. In an exchange, a gift whose value and time of repayment are not specified is referred to as

• a) generalized reciprocity.
• b) balanced reciprocity.
• c) a Kula Ring.
• d) negative reciprocity.

3. The degree of separation between members of different social groups is known as

• a) social hierarchy.
• b) redistribution.
• c) a leveling mechanism.
• d) social distance.

4. In an exchange, a gift whose value and time of repayment are specified is referred to as

• a) generalized reciprocity.
• b) balanced reciprocity.
• c) market economy.
• d) negative reciprocity.

5. In an exchange, a gift whose real value is misrepresented is referred to as

• a) multipurpose money.
• b) balanced reciprocity.
• c) market economy.
• d) negative reciprocity.

6. The major difference(s) between intensive agriculture and industrialism is/are

• a) the arbitrary date of 1853, which signals the beginning of industrialism.
• b) the fact that industrialism relies on factory farming, while intensive agriculture relies on swidden cultivation.
• c) the use of powered machinery and the reduction of people within the agricultural process.
• d) the presence of a market economy and resource redistribution through taxation.

7. A carrying capacity is

• a) the maximum amount of objects that a nomad can transport during their domestic relocations.
• b) the maximum social distance that can be sustained within a trading partnership.
• c) the number of people that can be sustained on the existing resources of a given area.
• d) the base nutritional requirements for survival for a person.

8. What is multipurpose money?

• a) Social value that does not have a specific allocated purpose.
• b) The objects and social value that has been collected by a government through taxation.
• c) A commodity that can be used for other purposes besides money.
• d) Items that are used only to measure the value of things in a marketplace.

9. The seasonal movement between resource areas is known as

• a. optimal foraging theory.
• b. pastoralism.
• c. gendered division of labor.
• d. transhumance.

10. What is a leveling mechanism?

• a. A tool used to create terraces in mountainous areas.
• b. A system that maintains a relatively equal level of status and wealth among members of a group.
• c. A form of redistribution that is managed by a government who collects all the objects and redistributes them to the entire group.
• d. A social event where a family or group will host a large gathering to celebrate a special occurrence.

Answers

1. c

Feedback: Anthropologists broadly divide subsistence strategies between food foragers, those who seek food from the available resources, and food producers, those who farm, keep animals, or transform their environment to produce food.

See pages 240-241 and Glossary.

2. a

Feedback: Generalized reciprocity is when a gift’s value and time of repayment are not specified.

See page 247.

3. d

Feedback: Social distance is the degree of separation between members of different social groups

See page 253 and Glossary.

4. b

Feedback: Balanced reciprocity is when a gift’s value and time of repayment are specified.

See page 250.

5. d

Feedback: Negative reciprocity is when a giver is deceiving the receiver as to the real value of the gift

See page 260.

6.c

Feedback: The major difference between intensive agriculture and industrialism is the incorporation of powered machinery in the farming process and the consolidation of subsistence activities within a smaller group of individuals.

See pages 260-262.

7. c

Feedback: The maximum number of people that can be sustained on the existing resources of a given area is the carrying capacity. Environmental alterations, such as farming, can increase the carrying capacity.

See page 248.

8. c

Feedback: Multipurpose money is a commodity that can be used for other purposes besides money. For example, cacao beans were used as a form of currency and could be used to make a sacred drink.

See pages 259-260.

9. d

Feedback: The seasonal movement between resource areas is known as transhumance.

See pages 259-260.

10. b

Feedback: A leveling mechanism is a system used by egalitarian societies that maintains a relatively equal level of status and wealth among its members.

See page 249.