Reading Log One, 1

LEFT HAND PAGE | RIGHT HAND PAGE | Santich, B and G. Bryant. 2008. “Gatherers To Growers” In Edible: The Illustrated Guide to the world’s Food Plants, 14-19. Australia: Cameron House | Santich, B and G. Bryant. 2008. “Gatherers To Growers” In Edible: The Illustrated Guide to the world’s Food Plants, 14-19. Australia: Cameron House | In this book chapter Santich and Bryant looks at how our ancestors became more efficient in improving their living conditions. They described how our ancestors became builders, farmers and innovators from hunters and gatherers. The discovery of fire and how they embedded fire in their daily lives, be it for cooking, light source, safety, warmth or even social gatherings has played a huge role at that time to create a safer and comfortable environment. Next, they described how the Neolithic Revolution signalled the transformation of hunting and gathering to agriculture. The patterns of immigration slowed down and they remained in an area. Permanent housing was a necessity in settled societies. Sturdy homes from sun-hardened clay ensured that they need not depend on temporary living quarters.Agricultural knowledge was spread around the world. Sedentary societies expanded farm sizes and began animal domestication. However there were challenges in an agricultural society. Issues such as malnutrition (insufficient protein intake), diseases (improper waste disposal) and risk of famine arose. These were issues affecting their life span. Although religion helped assured a successful harvest as they looked onto deities.However, valuable knowledge was gained through hardships. “All these challenges, however, simply spurred them on toward the development of more advanced innovations.” (Santich and Bryant 2008, 15) Storing grain for lean periods, farming tools (sickles and digging sticks) and fertilization (manure from domesticated animals).The text by Santich and Bryant is important because it illustrates how the human race has evolved

References: 1. Santich, B and G. Bryant. 2008. “Gatherers To Growers” In Edible: The Illustrated Guide to the world’s Food Plants, 14-19. Australia: Cameron House 2. Walter Sim. 2013. “Amount of food waste in Singapore hits record high” Singapore: The Straits Time. http://www.savefoodcutwaste.com/2013/07/02/amount-of-food-waste-in-singapore-hits-record-high-news/ 3. Jennifer Rajca. 2011. “Australians wasting $7.8bn of food a year” Australia: THE AGE National. http://www.theage.com.au/national/australians-wasting-78bn-of-food-a-year-20110101-19cmg.html