When is a Farmer a Hunter-Gatherer?

When they're nomadic, even if they grow neolithic crops and have herds of sheep and goats.

Truck drivers are nomadic, too. So were my parents in the early years of the marriage. Does that make them hunter-gatherers?

A word from someone who knows the difference between farmers and hunter-gatherers is here. Spoiler alert--the farmers had more tooth decay, iron deficiency and starvation than the hunters. Check out the pictures of skulls, tibias and teeth.

Comments

tess said…

thank you for linking that article! i haven't seen it in a long time (if ever...).

October 18, 2014

Lori Miller said…

Eades has some great stuff in the archives. Now he's mostly on Twitter.

October 18, 2014

Galina L. said…

I guess, hunters didn't turned into farmers momentarily , it was a process stretched in time and the fact that hunters supplemented meat with growing corn 200 years ago doesn't contradict another fact that grains are not perfect human food and a very recent addition to our diet.

October 19, 2014

Lori Miller said…

That makes sense--that it started out with hunters doing a little bit of farming, which turned into farmers doing a little bit of hunting. The people Tom described sounded like full-on farmers.

October 19, 2014

Lori Miller said…

As for corn, it looks like part of the paleo crowd has come full circle to embracing grains.

October 19, 2014

Galina L. said…

I guess a lot of Paleo folks could turn into Weston Price foundation followers without any harm. It is possible to eat grains and not to become less healthy for many people who tolerate carbohydrates better than me and the rest of LC zealots . I myself feed my family buckwheat, rice and fermented rye bread.

I know which food keeps me in a good health. I don't face a survival battle now, my goal is not to avoid starvation like my ancestors had, but to avoid over-eating. We keep forgetting during food debates that we have different environment than people who lived before.

In the case of Tom Naughton, many in his audience are the people with little children. I do think most children don't need a strict LC paleo, and if some of Tom's followers will take it easier, it would be better overall.

October 19, 2014

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