Early Farmers Did Great, but Subsequent Ones, Not So Much
Farming – particularly the early cultivation of grains such as wheat, barley, and rice, created a caloric bonanza. The result was a period of abundance for the early farmers. Once the early farmers had figured out how to seed, plant, and tend their fields, they often ended up with more grain than they could consume. Especially in the transition period when farming was only done part-time, and harvested grains merely supplemented the diets of those who split their time between farming and hunter gathering.
Because harvested grains did not spoil easily, and could thus be stored for long periods of time, early farmers enjoyed a period of unprecedented caloric surpluses. Grain cultivation allowed farmers to extract more calories per acre from cultivable land than hunter-gatherers could from a similarly sized patch. That spelled abundance at first – at least in calories, if not in dietary variety. However, more calories, combined with the now sedentary lifestyle of the farmers, meant that they could raise and feed bigger families. So they went ahead and did just that. Eventually, however, the additional calories from farming went to feed the new hungry mouths.
