Why forage : hunters and gatherers in the twenty first century Introduction : Hunters and Gatherers in the Twenty First Century Karen L. Kramer and Brian F. Codding Diversify or Replace : What Happens to Wild Foods when Cultigens Are Introduced into Hunter Gatherer Diets Karen L. Kramer and Russell D. Greaves Inuit Culture : To Have and Have Not or Has Subsistence Become an Anachronism George W. Wenzel In the bush the food is free : The Ju Hhoansi of Tsumkwe in the Twenty First Century Richard B. Lee Twenty First Century Hunting and Gathering among Western and Central Kalahari San Robert K. Hitchcock and Maria Sapignoli Why Do So Few Hadza Farm Nicholas Blurton Jones In Pursuit of the Individual : Recent Economic Opportunities and the Persistence of Traditional Forager Farmer Relationships in the Southwestern Central African Republic Karen D. Lupo What Now : Big Game Hunting Economic Change and the Social Strategies of Bardi Men James E. Coxworth Alternative Aboriginal Economies : Martu Livelihoods in the Twenty First Century Brian F. Codding Rebecca Bliege Bird Douglas W. Bird and David W. Zeanah Economic Social and Ecological Contexts of Hunting Sharing and Fire in the Western Desert of Australia Rebecca Bliege Bird Brian F. Codding and Douglas W. Bird Appendix A. Cross Cultural Demographic and Social Variables for Contemporary Foraging Populations Appendix B. Economic Activities of Twenty First Century Foraging Populations Foraging persists as a viable economic strategy both in remote regions and within the bounds of developed nation states. Given the economic alternatives available why do some groups choose to maintain their hunting and gathering lifeways Through a series of detailed case studies the contributors to this volume examine the decisions made by modern day foragers to sustain a predominantly hunting and gathering way of life. What becomes clear is that hunter gatherers continue to forage because the economic benefits of doing so are high relative to the local alternatives and perhaps more importantly because the social costs of not foraging are prohibitive; in other words hunter gatherers value the social networks built through foraging and sharing more than the potential marginal gains of a new means of subsistence. Why Forage shows that hunting and gathering continues to be a viable and vibrant way of life even in the twenty first century.