Primal Instincts: Foraging

Strolling the beach at Nazare 1985, Bruno Barbey.

Did you know that agriculture is a ‘catastrophe from which we have never recovered’? Or so said Jared Diamond, quoted from Sex at Dawn.

Before the introduction of agriculture humans lived in what was called fierce egalitarianism, where everything from food, responsibilities and lovers were shared.

Agriculture introduced privacy, ownership of land, war and individualism.

I believe that a this sense of foraging and hunter-gatherer instinct still resides within us, all of our original primal instincts still reside in us.

The need to live and survive has changed from what our ancestors had to deal with. But our primal instincts are still intact in the core of our being.

We still crave to go out on a hunt, that I believe is where our desires stem from.

Previous to agriculture, women occupied a central and respected role in foraging societies

Foraging for flowers in my 5km radius has become my primal motivation. It brings the most basic but immense sense of joy I could ask for in a time of limited travel.

I’m grateful to be getting back to my roots at last.