A brief introduction to subsistence strategies around the world. This lesson is geared towards intermediate-advanced EFL students. This lesson is not a comprehensive study of subsistence with full details , rather it's aim is to introduce students to big picture concepts, improve vocabulary, and activate critical thinking skills.

1. Subsistence Strategies
By: Bryce Drachenberg

2. REVIEW

3. Beliefs Practices Symbols

4. Subsistence Strategies
By: Bryce Drachenberg

5. Questions!
• How do people survive on this diverse planet?
• How did humans survive on Earth so successfully and for so long?
• How did we develop our current way of life?
• What are the different ways cultures cultivate food, and live as a
community?

6. Think about the last meal you ate…
o Where did the ingredients come from? If it was a cheeseburger, where
did the cow live and die?
o Now think about all the food you eat in a normal week. Do you know
the where the ingredients came from?
o In other words, how much do you know about the trip your food took
to arrive at your plate?

7. Beef
Cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Bread
Where does
your food come
from?

8. Vocabulary
1. Foraging
2. Subsistence
3. Survival
4. Nomadic
5. Resources
6. Produce
7. Strategy
8. Society
9. Foodways

9. Subsistence Strategies
If you are like me and you cannot
say much about where your food
comes from, then you are likely
part of an advanced agricultural
society. Which we will get to
later!
Subsistence is the set of practices
used by people to acquire food. A
means of supporting oneself and
their family with food and other
resources.

10. Eating is important. It’s one of the few things all of us share in
common. But “how” and “where” we get our food is different.
In a small fishing village, a person
will catch a fish, bring it home to
their friends/family, and will eat
the fish on the same day.
In a city, the person who eats the
fish at a fancy restaurant is NOT
the same person who caught the
fish. They do not know who caught
the fish, or where it came from!

11. 4 Modes of subsistence
1. Foraging
2. Pastoralism
3. Horticulture
4. Agriculture
Each mode has the task of obtaining food, these tasks are
influenced by environment and society.

12. Pastoralism
Foraging Horticulture Agriculture
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
relies on small-
scale cultivation
of crops primarily
for food
relies on cultivation
of domesticated
plants and animals
using technologies
that allow for
intensive use of the
land

13. Pastoralism
Foraging Horticulture Agriculture
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
relies on small-
scale cultivation
of crops primarily
for food
relies on cultivation
of domesticated
plants and animals
using technologies
that allow for
intensive use of the
land

15. Where are foragers found today?

16. Foragers are also known as
Hunter Gatherers
Foraging
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
Hunter
Gatherer
Collects plants and
other resources
Finds and kills wild
animals

17. Foragers
Foraging
Today’s hunter
gatherers are not
primitive! It may
be a simple
lifeway, but it is
not easy.
This is by far the oldest strategy used by
humans around the world to find food. It’s
also the simplest way of subsistence. Until
15,000 years ago ALL humans were foragers!
Humans have been foraging for over 200,000 years!
And our primitive ancestors for over 2 million years!

18.  Rely on natural resources to survive.
 Hunter Gatherers are Nomadic
 Meaning they will travel and go wherever they find food.
 Their environment is important it will determine strategy!
 Arctic (cold)  hunt large animals.
- seals, walrus, whale
 Tropics (hot)  find a wide range of food.
- Plants, berries, and small animals
 Does not cultivate the environment. No farming needed!
Nature will always provide.
Foraging
Due to constant
migration foragers
populated nearly
every livable place
on Earth.
How foragers survive….

19. What is a Foragers Community?
They usually have small communities.
 Up to 100 – 150 people, most of them are related.
 Also have small families - 2 or 3 children.
Gender Roles (Boy, Girl)
 Work is assigned by gender groups.
 Men will hunt animals
 Women (& children) will gather
resources.
Foraging
Hunter Gatherer are egalitarian
(men and woman share equal roles in society)

20. Activity
Man’s best friend!
Foraging
Dogs were domesticated as early as 15,000 years ago from their wild
ancestor the wolf. Dogs were not a source of food. Instead, they
played a big role in subsistence by helping humans who hunted large
animals such as woolly mammoths!
Some archaeologists believe dogs they may have been why the
woolly mammoth went extinct.
Dogs were also valued
for their role as
watchdogs capable of
protecting the
community from
predators and invaders.

21. Question
 Let’s return to the original question we started with:
Now think about all the food you eat in a normal week.
Do you know the where the ingredients came from?
Foraging
If you know
where and how to
find food you can
hunt and gather.
So, if you were a hunter gatherer…
1. Would you know where your food comes from?
2. How it is made?
3. And who found it?

22. Pastoralism
Foraging Horticulture Agriculture
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
relies on small-
scale cultivation
of crops primarily
for food
relies on cultivation
of domesticated
plants and animals
using technologies
that allow for
intensive use of the
land

23. “To us, a co-wife is something very good, because there is
much work to do. When it rains … the village gets mucky. And
it’s you who clears it out. It’s you who … looks after the cows.
You do the milking … and your husband may have very many
cows. That’s a lot of work… So Maasai aren’t jealous because
of all this work.”
– Maiyani, Maasai woman.

24. Where are pastoralist found today?

25. Vocabulary
1. Pastoralism
2. Domesticate
3. Livestock
4. Herding animal
5. Animal Husbandry
6. Beasts of burden
7. Nomadic
8. Egalitarian

26. Pastoralism
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
What is Pastoralism?
Pasture
-ism
Pastoral
The keeping or
grazing of sheep or
cattle
Land covered with grass
and plants suitable for
grazing animals
Practice
System
Philosophy

27. Raising livestock
Pastoralism
Animal husbandry is
the breeding, long-
term care, and use of
these domesticated
animals.
Pastoralists raise and many different herding
animals. Most often is cows, goats, sheep, and
pigs.
Pastoralism is a more complex lifeway than
foraging. This is because raising animals is a
tremendous amount of work!

28. Doing work
Pastoralism
Beast of burden is
an animal that
carries heavy
things, or does hard
work.
Pastoralists rely on what is called beasts of burden.
Which are camels, horses, donkeys, yak, and even
alpaca and llama have been domesticated to work.
Animals are your life. Every aspect of your day is
caring for your herd! Chores, chores, chores….

29. What is the goal of a pastoralist?
Pastoralism
Their goal is to
extend the life and
value of an animal
for generations
• The goal of many pastoralists is not to kill
animals for their meat, but instead use other
resources such as milk, which can be transformed
into butter, yogurt, and cheese.
• They can also produce products like fur or wool,
which can be sold. Even animal dung (poop!) is
useful for fuel and building houses!

30. Pastoralist and Community
Pastoralism
Despite doing much
of the daily work
with cattle, Maasai
women are cannot
own cattle.
• In Maasai society, women do almost all of the work with
the cows, from milking several times each day to clearing
the muck the cows produce.
• Men make all decisions about slaughtering, selling, and
raising the cattle.
• The woman’s role in Maasai society is subordinate
(lesser) to man’s.
• This practice is common among many pastoralist societies.
“men care about cattle while women care about children.”

31. A Vanishing World
Pastoralism
Nomadic societies
around the world
are vanishing.
• Much like foragers, pastoralists are also nomadic. Meaning
they travel to new areas in search for food or warm weather.
• Due to climate change many pastoralists and their herds
cannot find new pasture.
• Large cities and government land are also a problem for
traveling long distances.
• Less food, less water, and less land means this lifeway is
threatened.

32. Pastoralism
Foraging Horticulture Agriculture
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
relies on small-
scale cultivation
of crops primarily
for food
relies on cultivation
of domesticated
plants and animals
using technologies
that allow for
intensive use of the
land

33. It’s not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells you
what kind of life you have lived.
– Helen Walton

34. You can find horticulture in many places

35. Vocabulary
1. Crops
2. Diet
3. Gardening
4. Farming
5. Harvest

36. What is Horticulture?
Horticulture
relies on small-scale
cultivation of crops
primarily for food
Did you ever have a garden in your backyard, or maybe
your grandparents?
How much time did you put into this garden?
How much of your daily food came from this garden?

37. What is Horticulture?
Horticulture
relies on small-scale
cultivation of crops
primarily for food
People whose gardens supply the majority of their food
are known as horticulturalists.
Horticulture differs in three ways from other kinds of farming.
1) They move their farm fields periodically to use locations with the best
growing conditions.
2) horticultural societies use limited mechanical (like tractors) technologies to
farm, relying on physical labor from people and animals.
3) horticulture differs from other kinds of farming in its scale and purpose.

38. What do they grow?
Horticulture
relies on small-scale
cultivation of crops
primarily for food
Horticulture must be flexible!
Bananas, plantains, rice, and yams are additional examples of
popular horticultural crops.

39. In conclusion
Horticulture
relies on small-scale
cultivation of crops
primarily for food
Horticulture relies on cultivating crops for food. Animals make up a
small part of their diet.
They typically only need to feed their village.
The variety of crops is usually small.

40. Pastoralism
Foraging Horticulture Agriculture
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
relies on small-
scale cultivation
of crops primarily
for food
relies on cultivation
of domesticated
plants and animals
using technologies
that allow for
intensive use of the
land

41. The adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive
step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe
from which we have never recovered.
– Jared Diamond

42. Where did Agriculture begin?

43. Vocabulary
1. Cultivation
2. Technology
3. Harvesting
4. Domesticate
5. Civilization
6. Surplus

44. What is Agriculture?
Agriculture
relies on cultivation of
domesticated plants
and animals, and
using technologies.
Agriculture is the hallmark of human
civilization. It’s art. It’s science. It’s business.
It’s government.
There are many characteristics that came from
the invention of Agriculture in Anthropology.
Today we are going to talk about a few of
them.

45. A Revolution and New Technologies
Agriculture
Technology isn’t just
computers and
cellphones. Simple
things like a pencil is
also technology.
To begin cultivating and harvesting plants. We need
technology! Scythes, Hoes, Shovels, Axes, Plough, and
extensive knowledge of plants.
Without the invention of new technologies,
agriculture would have been impossible.

46. New Technologies
Agriculture
Writing is also
technology. One of
our most important
inventions.
Agricultural societies also
invented a little something
called….writing! Writing
was originally used to
record how many crops a
city had after harvest.
It is said that writing was independently invented
three times in world history. Once in Mesopotamia,
once in Mesoamerica, and once in China.

47. Mesoamerica Mesopotamia Shang Dynasty

48. Mesoamerica Mesopotamia Shang Dynasty

49. The technology of Domesticated Plants

50. Staple Crops
Agriculture
What do you prefer,
Rice or Noodles?
To have civilization you need food. And a lot
of it. The most important food source is called
a staple crop. A staple crop is the backbone
of subsistence.
For example in China the staple crop in the south is
rice, while in the north it is barley or wheat. This is
because the south is rainy and wet, and the north is
dry and arid.

51. What is surplus? = 100
Collected
Food
Farmed
Plants
Animals
x 1000
150 People
150 - 250 People
500 – 1000 People
500,000 + People

52. An abundance of food.
Agriculture
Question: How do you think jobs like
teachers, artists, scientists, politicians,
construction workers, lawyers, and doctors
came to be?
As people farm, food resources increase. This will
create surpluses. As a result, people don’t have to
hunt and gather. It also means more people can begin
to live in larger communities.

53. When there is surplus, cities are born

54. Social Structure
(In ancient Egypt)
Farmers & Slaves
(people who make things) Craftsmen
(people who sell things) Merchants
(people who write things) Scribes
Soldiers
Government, Officials, Nobles, Priests
King

55. Results and consequences of Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture may have
improved our lives in
many ways. But, it
also came with new
consequences.
Large Wars – Due to larger populations, new technology, and competition
for food and land wars became more common and more violent.
Land Struggles – Agriculture requires lots of land, this
might include your neighbors land. Which leads to war.
Slavery – Farming can be difficult and expensive. Why farm
yourself when you can force someone to do it for free?
Rich vs Poor – The rich get richer. The poor get poorer.
Kings – Kingdoms developed to protect precious land. Create
nations, and expand into new territory.
Government – Regulates and controls things within the city.
Also collects taxes

56. Agriculture and Today
Agriculture
Question: What problems from agriculture do
you think we face today or will in the future?
We have been farming now for over 10,000 years.
Our global population has increased to 7 billion
people.

57. Pastoralism
Foraging Horticulture Agriculture
relies primarily
on wild plant and
animal food
resources
relies on raising
herds of
domesticated
livestock
relies on small-
scale cultivation
of crops primarily
for food
relies on cultivation
of domesticated
plants and animals
using technologies
that allow for
intensive use of the
land