Making a Living – Cultural Adaptations in Farming – Lecture

Introduction

This page introduces making a living in several different countries.  Take note of the cultural adaptations devoted to each subsistencea method whereby humans are able to continue their existence; condition of being able to stay alive; practices that maintain survival farming pattern.  Farming is one of the oldest ways of adaptationculture is the primary way that humans adapt to their environmental surroundings in making a living.  Here you see modern-day farming on small plots in England and in Africa, which is how farming, as a cultural adaptation, must have begun; most likely on very small plots near homes.

The modern-day farmers are also adapting in new ways, with new innovations, and new methods of doing “old” things in order to be more selfa person's essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action; one's identity, character, abilities, and attitudes, especially towards persons or things outside of oneself note:  reflexive is also in the glossary on this site sufficient and environmentally friendly.

The Aboriginesaborigines - the original or earliest known inhabitants of a country or region, but the name is mainly associated with the indigenous people of Australia; often called Australian Aborigines - aborigine can also be used in expressing the original native fauna or flora of a region of Australia made a living, as you will see, in a natural, sustainable, and in renewable ways that are not so practical today, due to huge urban populations, mechanized ways of growing foodany nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth in order to feed billions, and the processes of globalizationall nations and peoples are interconnected in today's world due to massive flow of goods and services, importation of labor, immigration, technology, finance capital, outsourcing of businesses, and diseases, etc.; globalization promotes rapid culture change and adaptations, which increasingly blurs the lines of cultural components.  The burning of brush, as mentioned in the video, is more often known as Fire-stick Farming.

And, in the last video, you will see how farmers in Honduras are being taught new ways to be subsistence farmers.  Their old way is slash-and-burnSlash-and-burn is a form of farming in forests, whereby an area of the forest is cleared by cutting and burning.  The ashes make for more fertile soil for planting.  After a few seasons the crop area is left alone in order to return to forest. agriculturecultivation of soil to grow food plants using technologies such as plowing, irrigation, terracing, fertilizers and harnessing power of domesticated animals, or sometimes called Swidden Farming, which destroys forests, as well as the habitats for many animal, insect, and plant species.  Swidden farming in this Latin American Global Villagethe Latin American culture region includes all of South America, plus Mesoamerica, and including the Easter Island, which was annexed and claimed by Chile in 1888 is an adaptive practice begun hundreds of years ago.

In the short-term it seemed beneficial, but this is an example of a cultural adaptation that turns out not to be beneficial in the long term for the people, fauna and flora, the environmentthe surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates; the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences;  ecology, the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors and influences, or the planet.  Slash and burn agriculture is still used in many areas of the world today; and in some places may still be beneficial.

Farming in England

Farming in Africa

Farming in America – with some innovative ideas

Farming in Australia

The Aborigines (indigenous people) made a living by partnering with naturethe phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans and or human creations.

The kind of farming mentioned is commonly known as Fire-stick farming

Farming in Honduras – Learning new ways to adapt for sustainabilitythe basic definition of sustainability is maintaining ecological balance; but for our purposes in studying human culture, we add two more dimensions of sustainability: social and economical, so sustainability is about maintaining social, economic, and ecological balance (as much as possible)

The above farmers are all making a living in different cultural contexts, but they are all making a living as farmers.  But, as we see the various methods demonstrated, we also can see that there is more than one way to do the same thing in many different environments and with varying resources.