BSA 1 Block A

Group 10 STS
MWF | 10:30am - 11:30am

Group 1 September 27, 2021

Members:
Agudo, Angel Ina Gusto
Almocera, Lucky Daigdigan
Alviola, Franz Michael Escalante
Bontilao, Niña Trexeh Bontilao
Canada, Jackylin Boiser
Colorada, Trisha Lourdes Arcilla
Dajao, Jielly May Cañalita

GROUP 1: FORAGING

DEFINITION

Foraging refers to searching or obtaining food from nature by hunting and gathering
plants and animals. Additionally, the terms ‘foraging’ and ‘hunting and gathering’ can be used
interchangeably.

HOW DID THIS COME TO BE OR WHAT ARE ITS TRIGGERING FACTORS?

Foraging, for a fact, is a term used consisting of people who consistently have no
controlled source of food. Foragers hunt and gather every single day thus remaining at the
“mercy of nature”. However, not having a very efficient system of obtaining food forces them to
be always on the move and have no permanent shelters. This then is the following factors that
trigger foraging.

Hunger is one of the signs of foraging. Since there is a need to feed the entire population
and obtaining other necessities, they go hunt and gather food. However, foraging is very
dependent on the area or environment. In relation to what will be discussed later about the
specific societies that practice foraging, foragers are known to have no permanent settlements.
This is for a fact that they depend on the availability of the resources in an area to sustain their
needs. Once the area goes out of resources, foragers would then transfer to another location for
foraging. But you might question what does it mean that a richer environment is equivalent to a
longer settlement? In simple terms, an area or environment that has enough or more than enough
resources for these people to forage, they will not have the need to instantly move and look for
another place to settle hence a longer settlement at that place.
TIMELINE IN HISTORY

Foraging has been one of the most ancient subsistence patterns. Most people have lived
this way prior to 10,000 years ago up until the 20th century in marginal areas where it is unsuited
for farming or herding. Anthropologists have discovered evidence for the practice of foraging by
modern humans (homo sapiens). Prior to the discovery of hunting, foragers relied on scavenging
animal remains left behind by predators. Furthermore, with the beginnings of the Neolithic
Revolution about 12,00 years ago, when agriculture was first practiced and developed, some
abandoned hunting in order to establish permanent settlements and provide for a larger
population. However, in the last 500 years, the population of foragers has declined drastically.

SPECIFIC SOCIETIES WHO STARTED THE ACTIVITY, THEIR LIFESTYLE, AND PLACE
OF ORIGIN

Foraging for wild plants and hunting wild animals is the most ancient of human
subsistence patterns. Hunting and gathering continued to be the subsistence pattern of some
societies especially in environmentally marginal areas that were unsuited to farming or herding,
such as dense tropical forests, deserts, and subarctic tundra. With this, foragers rely mainly on
their own muscle power in carrying out their subsistence tasks and most labor is done
individually or in small groups.

Specific Groups/Societies:
Pedestrian Foragers
- The pedestrian hunting and gathering way of life were highly mobile and the most
common form of foraging. Most of these societies moved their camps several
times a year and had temporary dwellings. The number of people living in a
camp also often varied throughout the year depending on the local food supply.
Material possessions were generally few and light in weight so that they could be
transported easily. Subsistence tools included such things as simple digging
sticks, baskets, spears, and bows and arrows that could be easily replaced when
needed. This settlement flexibility is an efficient way of responding to changing
environmental opportunities.

- One specific society that practices pedestrian foraging is the !Kung San. They live
in the Kalahari desert and get their food by collecting on foot. The !Kung San
uses about 100 species of animals and over 150 species of plants, although not all
are used for food. The primary food source is the mongongo nut that is high in
protein. The !Kung San eats their way out of areas, starting with their favorite
food and then the less desirable food. Once the resources get low, the group will
move to a new area. The !Kung San also moves seasonally as resources become
 available. During the rainy season, the !Kung San lives in small groups of 2-3
families. In the dry season, large camps of 20-40 people are established near
permanent water sources.

Aquatic Foragers
- As aquatic foragers focus their subsistence activities on fish, mollusks, and/or
marine mammals, the most well-known aquatic foragers lived on the Northwest
Coast of North America from the Klamath River of California to the Aleutian
Islands of Alaska. These societies specialized mostly in salmon fishing along the
rivers and hunting seals and whales off the coast. Other aquatic foragers occupied
the coastal regions of the American subarctic, the Channel Islands of Southern
California, the southern tip of South America, the coastal areas of Eastern Siberia,
and a few other regions of the world.

- It is believed that the exploitation of fish and other marine resources is usually a
far more reliable and productive form of foraging than the diversified hunting and
gathering of most foragers who live away from the coasts and major rivers.

Equestrian Foragers
- Equestrian foragers are the rarest type of foraging group, being identified only in
the Great Plains of North America and the pampas and steppes of South America.
This type of foraging strategy emerged after contact with European settlers who
reintroduced the horse to the Americas. The Aonikenks live on the Patagonian
Steppes of South America. The Aonikenks also called the Tehuelche or people of
the south, hunted guanaco - an indigenous camelid - in seasonal rounds. They also
ate rhea (sometimes referred to as the South American ostrich), roots, and seeds.
The horse became the principal mode of transportation and dramatically increased
hunting success in the pursuit of big animals. These societies became larger,
more mobile, and were able to travel over larger areas throughout the years.
Horses allowed them to effectively follow the seasonal migrations of large
herbivores over hundreds of miles and had convenient foraging activities.

- To easily remember, Pedestrian Foragers collect food on foot; Aquatic foragers

rely greatly on water/sea when foraging, and Equestrian foragers use horses when
hunting.
PRACTICES POPULARIZED AND TOOLS USED

Popularized Practices:
1. Hunting - the foraging of undomesticated animals for substance.
Ex: Shooting an animal with a bow and arrow, and setting contraptions.

2. Gathering - the foraging of uncultivated plants for substance.

Ex: Collecting nuts off the ground, and picking fruit off a tree.

Tools Used:
Traditional
1. Bow with poison-tipped arrows
2. Spears
(both traditional tools are used for hunting animals like deer and buffalo)

3. Projectile points
- Chipped stone artifacts were used as tips of spears, lances, and
arrows.
- When propelled with sufficient force, it can penetrate through
animals’ skin.
-
4. Harpoon
- Used to kill sea creatures like tuna, swordfish, and the like.
- It was formerly thrown by hand, but with the advancement of
technology, now, it can be shot from a constructed gun.

5. Fishing contraptions
- traditionally, fish traps are made of bamboo

Modern
1. Guns
- due to the advancement of technology, guns are invented, and for
hunting, it is generally used for killing big-game specials (big
animals) like bison, brown bear, and moose.
Examples: Rifles and Shotguns

2. Compound bows and Crossbows

- unlike the traditional ones, the materials used for making these
bows are more durable, therefore, is capable of producing higher
arrow speeds
 3. Pocket Knife
- a pocket-sized blade that can fold up

EFFECTS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY (FOOD GETTING AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY)

Foraging has affected the food industry as it laid down the foundation where numerous
food acquiring systems have expounded on. It has become an item of comparison wherein they
gather data for the advancement of food production and security.

An example is a knowledge that traditional foraging is the hunting and gathering of wild
plants and animals, but due to the dynamics of time and what is now considered as “right” or
“wrong”, the food industry adapted that idea and adjusted it in accordance to what is now
appropriate. Thus, the concept of mass or sole harvesting of domestic plants that you can
consume, and the selection of wild plants still happens in regards to its safety, nutritional and
economic value.

This information from foraging has grounded the advancement of food technology by
establishing historic data and facts that people of today in improving the ways of acquiring food
and sustaining humane needs.

IS IT STILL PRESENT OR DONE TODAY? IN WHAT PLACES?

Nowadays, foraging is rarely utilized, especially that people in the community are already
using more advanced and innovative ways and technologies in the acquisition of food. However,
they are still specific groups in certain countries that are using foraging to acquire such. Some of
these are:
The Bushmen of Southern Africa
Until relatively recently, five different groups of people had been living as
foragers in the same place for 30,000 years. And it’s a semidesert — the Kalahari Desert
of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. The groups each have a name, but collectively
they are known as San, Bushmen, or the First People. Most call themselves Bushmen
when referring to themselves collectively.

The Bushmen moved every day during the rainy season in search of budding
edible greens. They constructed simple shelters against the rain at night. During the dry
season, however, they built more stable huts of branches and grass around water sources.
Finding water was their essential activity. Sometimes they had to dig deep holes wherever
the sand was damp and sip up water through hollow grass straws, often storing it in
ostrich eggshells, which held about five cups, more than a day’s supply.
 Hunter-gatherer Societies
Hunter-gatherer societies are still found across the world, from the Inuit who hunt
for walrus on the frozen ice of the Arctic, to the Ayoreo armadillo hunters of the dry
South American Chaco, the Awá of Amazonia’s rainforests, and the reindeer herders of
Siberia.

Today, however, their lives are in danger. The issues they are forced to cope with
on a daily basis have nothing to do with their innate strength and resourcefulness as a
people but stem from oppressive external threats to their lands, health, and ways of life.

HOW WAS FORAGING INNOVATED?

People in primitive societies mostly hunt and gather food in their environment. However,
in modern times, we have laws that protect animals, and people have adopted new methods of
acquiring food, so foraging has transitioned to agriculture and domestication, agriculture
technology, and food technology. Farming and harvesting, livestock farming, poultry, and
fisheries are examples of agriculture domestication, where resources are used to produce food
and then sold to supermarkets.

The practice of agriculture has progressed through utilizing agriculture technology. Since
it is often difficult to obtain skilled labor during peak seasons, we now have advanced
technology that substitutes manual labor and ensures the security of the farmers and productivity
despite bad weather conditions.

Case IH's Autonomous Concept Vehicle is a good example of this. Because of its
planting, spraying, and harvesting functions, this machine is expected to provide improved
operating efficiency in farming. It's similar to a tractor, but it has fully interactive features that
allow the operator to monitor preprogrammed operations.

Food technology-enhanced foraging during our time through techniques made by food
technologists to genetically or phenotypically modify plant species. They conducted continuous
research in order to maximize our food resources for production, and via food safety assurance,
they were able to reduce the risks of nutritional deficiency and diseases.
[REFERENCES]

Lumen. (n.d.p). Cultural Anthropology. Retrieved from

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/foraging/

Brown, C. (n.d.p). Foraging. Retrieved from

https://school.bighistoryproject.com/media/khan/articles/U6_Foraging_2014_780L.pdf

Foraging. (n.d.p). Retrieved from https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/subsistence/sub_2.htm

Bharucha, Z; Pretty, J. (2010, September 27). The Roles and Values of Wild Foods in
Agricultural Systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2935111/

Tucker, B; et. al. (2010, December). Foraging for Development: A Comparison of Food
Insecurity, Production, and Risk among Farmers, Forest Foragers, and Marine Foragers
in Southwestern Madagascar. ResearchGate. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234114966_Foraging_for_Development_A_
Comparison_of_FoodInsecurity_Production_and_Risk_among_FarmersForest_Foragers_
and_Marine_Foragers_inSouthwestern_Madagascar

Brown, C. (n.d.p). Foraging. Khan Academy. Retrieved from

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/early-humans/how-did-first
-humans-live/a/foraging

National Geographic Society. (n.d.p). Hunter-Gatherer Culture. Retrieved from

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/hunter-gatherer-culture/

MIT University. (2020, June 15). Importance of Food Science and Technology-Way to Future.
Retrieved from https://www.mituniversity.edu.in/importance-of-food-science-and
-technology-way-to-future/

National Geographic Society. (2019, August 19). Hadza. Retrieved from

https://www.mituniversity.edu.in/importance-of-food-science-and
-technology-way-to-future/

Ember, C. (2020, June 1). Hunter-Gatherers. HRAF Explaining Human Culture. Retrieved from
https://hraf.yale.edu/ehc/summaries/hunter-gatherers
Illinois State Museum. (n.d.p). How are Points Used? Retrieved from
https://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/anthro/proj_point/How_are_points_use.html

Shakshat Virtual Lab. (n.d.p). Hunting, Fishing, Gathering Tools. Retrieved from
https://www.iitg.ac.in/cseweb/vlab/anthropology/hunting_fishing_tools_theory.html