A close look at our present sources of food convinces us that cooperation and not competition is the way of survival. Just 30 major crops and seven animal sources of meat supply us with almost all our nutritional needs. In every case, the hundreds of millions of metric tons of food are provided by domesticated plants and animals that are in a unique, harmonious relationship with man. Without these faithful coworkers, the present population of over 4,000 million people could not survive. Inversely, the majority of domesticated plants and animals would likewise perish without man’s constant care and attention.

Plant and Animal Domestication

From the very beginning of human history man could see the qualities and the possibilities of certain plants and animals as sources of food. In fact, the Bible states that the Creator set the example for man by becoming the first Agriculturist. He planted a beautiful garden with all the necessary variety to provide the first human pair with their food. (Gen. 2:8, 9) Also, in the first part of the Bible, mention is made of domestic animals for man’s use. It was the Creator’s will for man to exercise dominion over the lower forms of life and to use them wisely to provide for his needs. Intelligently, man could use and cooperate with all the other forms of life on the earth to ensure his own survival as well as that of the endless variety of plant and animal life.

Man’s relationship to the lower forms of life can be likened to that of the potter and his clay. The skilled potter uses his raw materials to fashion ceramic vessels of endless variety and uses. Man, by selection and crossbreeding, fashions from the host of living organisms the plants and the animals that satisfy his needs. Of course, these organisms themselves have the inner potential to respond to this domestication by man.

The term “domesticate” reveals something about the process. The word comes from the Latin root meaning “house.” To domesticate, then, means to bring the plant or animal into the household arrangement, under the direct supervision and care of man. An interdependent relationship is built up. Man becomes dependent on his domesticated plants and animals for survival, and they, in turn, depend on him. It is a process of reorganization of the wild forms according to the interests of man.

To illustrate further how this process is carried out, let us have a look at the possible way in which a seed-producing plant such as wheat was domesticated. Wheat is one of the oldest domesticated plants. Undoubtedly, man could see the value of the edible seeds of the wild forebears of wheat. He harvested them and then decided to plant and cultivate them to facilitate harvesting and to increase production. That very first step began a selection process that led to domestication.

New varieties became dependent on its cultivators for survival. However, cultivated plants are not entirely isolated from wild varieties and occasionally crossbreeding occurs, sometimes improving the quality of the plant. Man, ever on the alert to improve his domesticated provider, selects the improved varieties and sows them. And the process continues with improved varieties constantly making their appearance.

The varieties of wheat that are now providing a world crop of nearly 400 million metric tons a year are not the same varieties sown in Biblical times.a

Those ancient wheats were what is known as glume wheats, that is, they had an inner shell-like glume or husk that had to be broken open after harvesting. Somewhere in the stream of time, the emmer wheat underwent a mutation (a basic change in its genetic composition) so that the glume breaks open easily when the spike is harvested. At the same time the spike became tougher, holding the seeds in place until harvesttime. This is a variety of wheat with 21 pairs of chromosomes, the extra chromosomes evidently coming from a crossbreeding with wild goat grass. Varieties of this bread wheat are the present major producers of the world wheat crop.

Genetic Potential

The marvelous ability of plants and animals to respond to intelligent direction gives witness to the genetic potential that each life form has within itself. To illustrate: the wild mustard plant (Brassica oleracea) has produced, under man’s direction, six different domesticated plants that adorn our tables and please our palates. In each case, on domesticating, certain parts of the original plant were selected and emphasized. From the original plant we have cabbage (developed terminal bud), the cauliflower (the flower part), the kohlrabi (the stem), brussels sprouts (lateral buds), broccoli (stems and flowers) and kale (leaves). Kale is the plant that most resembles the original mustard plant.

As knowledge of biology increases, man is able to improve the selection and better direct the formation of different new strains of wheat, rice, corn, and so forth. This has produced a “green revolution.” New varieties are producing 10-fold more than their progenitors. Still there is a danger: too much dependency on just a few varieties of plants.

Potatoes are an example of this. Potatoes were domesticated in one of the eight general centers or geographic areas of domestication. They were domesticated some 1,800 years ago along the west coast of South America in the Andean Highlands, where today over 150 varieties are found. With the conquest of South America, the Spanish invaders took the potato back to Europe, where it became acclimatized. With time, the potato was carried to Ireland, where it flourished. The Irish became dependent on this one main crop as their principal source of food. The result? Famine, when an unexpected plant disease, potato blight, killed off the crop in 1845-46, forcing many of the Irish to migrate to other lands.