It is not as if farming brought a great improvement in living standards either. A typical hunter-gatherer enjoyed a more varied diet and consumed more protein and calories than settled people, and took in five times as much vitamin C as the average person today. Even in the bitterest depths of the ice ages, we now know, nomadic people ate surprisingly well-and surprisingly healthily. Settled people, by contrast, became reliant on a much smaller range of foods, which all but ensured dietary insufficiencies.
Farming did not significantly enhance living standards compared to hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Those who hunted and gathered had a more diverse diet, with higher protein and calorie intake, and consumed five times more vitamin C than the average modern individual. Even during harsh ice ages, nomadic groups maintained a surprisingly well-rounded and healthy diet.
In contrast, settled agricultural societies depended on a limited variety of foods, which led to nutritional deficiencies. This change in dietary habits highlighted the drawbacks of settling down and relying on farming, showing that early hunter-gatherers had a healthier approach to food than their farming counterparts.
