24+ Pros and Cons of Food Foraging (Explained)

Earlier our ancestors used to hunt for their food. It is due to the difficulties related to the gathering of food is how agriculture came into being. The practice of living in the wild and searching for edibles to sustain oneself is called food foraging. People used to move around in search of food and eat directly from where it was obtained.

Though we have progressed a lot in the sphere of agriculture which leaves as with no need to go into the wild in order to search for food, still there are various advantages to food foraging.

Benefits of food foragingDrawbacks of food foraging
Better dietNo reliability
Healthy bodyDepends on the area
No need to harvest and plantMight have poison
Less labourLife risk
More leisureWorry about next meal
No harmful chemicals in the foodCan destroy ecosystem
Quality not driven by capitalTime consuming
Variety of food
Get to spend more time in the environment

ADVANTAGES OF FOOD FORAGING:

  • BETTER DIET:

When there was no system of growing food in a systematic and controlled method people used to go around places in search of food and then eat whatever was available in the said place. This might appear to be too risky but it has been seen that the people who used to spend their life in this way and dependent on food foraging in order to sustain themselves had a better diet than the people of today.

  • Healthy body:

We, as a people who are extremely dependent on the process of agriculture to sustain ourselves and our diet, consider it important to have healthy food. Food controls a huge part of our health and regulates it.

Accordingly, importance is given to having food that would benefit our health. It has been seen that people who are dependent on foraging for food have a healthy body because of how they directly obtain their food from the nature without putting it under any system and controlling it.

  • No need to harvest or plant:

In the process of agriculture the foods needs to be planted and harvested and the whole method is a tiring and strenuous process. The people who forage food do not have to go through this tiring process of planting the seed and waiting for them to harvest in order to obtain their food we can directly do so from the nature.

  • Less labour:

The process of agriculture demands the labour of a lot of people. One person cannot harvest or plant seeds in the whole field. This labour is not required for food foraging where one can collect food from the nature and then have it directly without putting much effort into it.

  • More leisure:

People who depend on food foraging do not have to put their labour into to growing their own food. They can have a lot of leisure and in  this leisure time they can focus on other forms of expression like singing or making paintings by which they can entertain themselves and others around them.

  • No harmful chemicals in the food:

Because nowadays everyone depends on agriculture for their food, the farmers have to use chemicals to increase food production. This might be harmful for the people who eat the food but this is not applicable for food foraging as people gather food that grows naturally.

  • Quality not driven by capital:

In agricultural system, in order to obtain food that are not grown using chemicals, one needs to pay more money. Such is not the case for food foraging. If you forage for food, then you can obtain naturally grown high quality food without worrying about the capital you might have.

  • Variety of food:

The variety of food that one finds in nature is far more than what men are capable of growing under controlled agricultural system. Thus, people who forage for food can avail variety of food.

  • Get to spend more time in the environment:

We, as human beings are not very close to the environment, as of now, except for the people who work in fields. If we start obtaining our food by the method of food foraging we can spend more time in the environment.

DISADVANTAGES OF FOOD FORAGING:

  • No reliability:

Even if it is healthy to have food directly from the nature, it cannot always be trusted. It is not a reliable source of food as the nature might or might not, at times, produce enough food.

  • Depends on the area:

If the food foragers end up in a place that is not fertile then they might not have enough food to sustain themselves for the time that they want to stay in that certain area.

  • Might have poison:

The place from where the foragers collect food do not have a regulated system of production. Because of this, the food might have poison which they might be unaware of.

  • Life risk:

The life risk of living in the wild in order to collect one’s own food should also be considered because of the presence of wild animals.

  • Worry about next meal:

People who depend on agriculture for their food do not have to worry about the next meal. Whereas people who forage their food can not be sure about their next meal and have to constantly search for their food.

  • Can destroy ecosystem:

Foraging might provide one with healthy food but too much foraging can destroy the ecosystem and harm the nature irreversibly.

  • Time consuming:

Depending on food foraging in order to sustain oneself means that one has to continuously and tirelessly keep searching for their food. This is a very time consuming process of eternally searching for food to keep oneself alive.

Even though the major percentage of the population does not depend on food foraging for their food anymore, it still remains as one of the most natural and ancient ways to have healthy food. If one keeps it in mind to not over forage a certain place then it will help the nature as well as the humans to stay healthy.

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