TO FARM ORNOT TO FARM:
THAT IS THE QUESTION
Not all hunting and gathering people in Arizona wanted to raisecrops, even if they had good farmland and enough water in theirterritories. There were several reasons for this. First, there weredisadvantages to staying in one place for too long. For example, firewood
might be used up too quickly. If this happens, people would have to walkvery far to find wood and carry it back to camp. Other importantresources might become hard to get, as well.
Second, garden crops might not have enough time to get ripe. Plants
like corn and squash don’t do well with droughts, floods, freezes, anddiseases. It takes a lot of time and energy to raise crops. You have toprepare the soil, plant seeds, weed, and water. You have to keep hungry
animals from eating your food. The failure to harvest a good and needed
crop would be very upsetting. Not getting enough food from the crops
might be risky for the community food supply. People would have toconsider if the same amount of work collecting wild plants would haveprovided more food.
Third, if many plants did survive until the fruit and vegetables
were ripe, then the food must be prepared, stored, and protected forfuture use. This required lots of work. In addition, after food has been
stored for the future, people might have had to guard it to keep it safe
from animals and other people.
Fourth, there were advantages to a nomadic way of life. Families andfriends were always looking for new or better places to hunt and gather. Ifthey were tied to one place, they might miss out on getting what theyneeded. Also, hunter-gatherer families would miss the annual gathering of
their far-away family and friends that happened nearly every autumn. This
gathering took place in resource-rich places when lots of food was on

To Farm or Not To Farm

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hand. Many groups came together for a short time to visit and share foodand stories with each other.
There were other reasons as well why people might not choose to befarmers. Can you add more reasons to this list?
There were good reasons to add cultivated plants to a diet. First, new,tasty, and healthy foods were always welcome. Domesticated plants, likecorn, provided the slow burning sugars that give you energy. People needthese to work hard and to satisfy their hunger.
Second, some crops, like corn and beans, were easy to dry and store.
Dried grains and seeds could be used when fresh foods were unavailable. Itwas especially hard to get fresh food in the winter.
Third, the potential benefit from planting one or a few dried cornkernels (seeds) in a single hill or row could be very great. One seed cangrow into a plant that would produce hundreds of seeds on each ear ofcorn. In addition, the corn cob and the husks could be used for otherpurposes. It can even be burned like wood in a fire. Very little of the corn
plant was wasted. In a good year, farming could result in a large harvest.
This would make it possible to feed many people for several months. Itwould provide security against hunger or starvation.
Fourth, with lots of stored food, larger groups of people could live
together for longer periods of time. As a result, group members could help
one another with their daily tasks. Daily tasks would include gathering
firewood and water, collecting plants, hunting, and religious or social
events. There would be more people to protect the group if they cameunder attack. As they say, “Safety in numbers.”
There were other reasons why people might choose to become a farmer.
Can you add more reasons to this list?

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