Subsistence Anthropology

Subsistence Anthropology

Learning Objectives

• Reflect on the origins of food ingredients in meals and their geographic sourcing.

• Understanding subsistence systems provides insights into societal food practices.

Key Concepts of Subsistence Systems

Subsistence Definition

• Subsistence System: Practices by societies to acquire food, influencing our understanding of their connection to food sources.

Types of Subsistence Systems

1. Foraging (Hunting and Gathering)

   • Utilizes wild plants and animals.

   • Immediate return on labor; less secrecy around food production.

   • Broad spectrum diet; adaptable to various resources.

   • Social structures tend to be egalitarian with minimal wealth differences.

2. Pastoralism

   • Focuses on raising domesticated livestock.

   • Requires movement for grazing due to environmental demands.

   • Emphasizes community; involves shared labor and resources.

   • Gender roles often favor men, with women handling most daily chores.

3. Horticulture

   • Small-scale farming, also known as shifting cultivation.

   • Relies on manual labor; utilizes technologies to clear land.

   • Produces diverse crops primarily for household consumption.

   • Intercropping is common to enhance sustainability and yield.

4. Agriculture

   • Intensive farming of staple crops with technology and tools.

   • Often leads to surplus production and commercial distribution.

   • Acts as a base for socioeconomic stratification and complex societal structures.

Symbolic Meaning of Food

• Food is culturally significant; influenced by norms and taboos (e.g., dietary restrictions among religious communities).

• Foodways: The cultural norms surrounding food acquisition and consumption.

Anthropological Insights

• Carrying Capacity: The number of calories that can be extracted from land resources to support a population.

• Malthusian Theory: Population grows exponentially, resources grow arithmetically, leading to potential crises.

• Ester Boserup: Contends that population pressure can drive agricultural innovation and cultural change.

Foraging Societies

Characteristics

• Small group sizes, reliance on shared knowledge of ecosystems.

• Limited wealth accumulation; community-oriented practices emphasize sharing.

Gender Dynamics

• Gender roles can lead to inequalities; men's skills in hunting often valued higher than women's gathering.

Stability and Mobility

• Some settled foraging societies exist where fishing provided surpluses, leading to population growth.

Pastoralism: An Interconnected Lifestyle

• Nomadic Pastoralism: Movement required for grazing; also follows seasonal patterns.

• Emphasizes communal resource management; wealth measured in livestock.

• Concerns of gender inequality persist with men controlling animals, while women manage labor.

Agriculture: A Double-Edged Sword

Transition to Agriculture

• Neolithic Revolution marks technological advancements in subsistence strategies.

• Characteristics:

  • Reliance on staple crops, creation of surplus and larger populations, division of labor, and wealth differences arise.

Global Agricultural System

• Uneven resource distribution leads to food insecurity and malnourishment despite ample agricultural capacity.

• Commodity chains illustrate the journey of food from producers to consumers, often leading to exploitation of farmers at the onset of these chains.

Conclusion and Discussion Questions

Reflection Points

• Consider how knowledge about food origins affects dietary choices and connections to food production.

• Explore possible solutions to wealth discrepancies within global food systems.

GLOSSARY

Agriculture: the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land.
Delayed return system: techniques for obtaining food that require an investment of work over a period of time before the food becomes available for consumption. Farming is a delayed return system due to the passage of time between planting and harvest. The opposite is an immediate return system in which the food acquired can be immediately consumed. Foraging is an immediate return system.
Domestic economy: the work associated with obtaining food for a family or household.
Foraging: a subsistence system that relies on wild plant and animal food resources. This system is sometimes called “hunting and gathering.”
Horticulture: a subsistence system based on the small-scale cultivation of crops intended primarily for the direct consumption of the household or immediate community.
Modes of subsistence: the techniques used by the members of a society to obtain food. Anthropologists classify subsistence into four broad categories: foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, and agriculture.
Pastoralism: a subsistence system in which people raise herds of domesticated livestock.
Subsistence system: the set of skills, practices, and technologies used by members of a society to acquire and distribute food.