But two other things also took place. First of all, when one could grow more food than was needed to survive, there was something to trade, and above all, to support others who were freed do other things. Simply stated, agriculture makes towns possible. Farmers remind us of this to this very day and we believe it because we continue to respect the political power of the farmer, not because farmers are so numerous, but because we know that our food supply could hang in the balance. The second rather profound development is that agriculture separates the one growing food from direct contact with the buyer or consumer.
Food becomes a commodity.
It is an impersonal thing. This theme is still with us. Many people today argue that technology itself is impersonal and that it fosters impersonal interactions. More on this later. While it took thousands of years, the growth of towns into cities was fostered in part by agriculture, but now also fed by new technologies such as the steam engine, sea worthy ships, political appetite for colonies.