In this episode of A Worldview Apart Eric explores the origins of agriculture. In particular he talks about a controversial theory that states that ancient people’s adoption of agriculture, including the cultivation of cereal grains and the herding of mammals for their milk, was driven by the pursuit of opioid chemicals found in these foods. He links the addictive qualities of these opioid compounds to food addictions, and to social acceptance of the many negative impacts associated with agriculture.

Links & Resources

• Support A Worldview Apart on Patreon!
• Christine Zioudrou, et al. 1979. Opioid peptides derived from food proteins: the exorphins. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Vol 254, No 7, Pages 2446-2449.
• Paola Bressan and Peter Kramer. 2016. Bread and other edible agents of mental disease. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Vol 10, Article 130.
• Greg Wadley and Angus Martin. 1993. The origins of agriculture – a biological perspective and a new hypothesis. Australian Biologist. Vol 6, No 2, Pages 96-105.
• Thinking in Systems, by Donella Meadows