| CLUB-E | History | Agricultural Revolution
If you’ve ever walked through a grocery store or ordered takeout and wondered how we got here, the answer lies in three agricultural revolutions. They didn't just change how we get and grow food — they completely reshaped the societies and economies.
如果你曾在逛超市或点外卖时好奇这些是怎么来的，答案就在于三次农业革命。它们不仅改变了我们获取和种植食物的方式，更彻底重塑了社会和经济。
I. The First Agricultural Revolution
I. 第一次农业革命
About 12,000 years ago, humans were still hunter-gatherers, travelling and chasing animals for food. But around 11,700 years ago, the Ice Age started to melt away, and with warmer weather, people started growing their own food.
约12000年前，人类还是狩猎采集者，四处迁徙，靠追逐动物获取食物。但大约11700年前，冰河时代开始消退，随着气候变暖，人们开始种植食物。
That idea — farming — led to the First Agricultural Revolution. People started planting wheat, barley, rice, and maize. They raised animals, formed villages, and worked together.
这种耕作方式催生了第一次农业革命。人们开始种植小麦、大麦、水稻和玉米。他们饲养牲畜，建立村落，并共同劳作。
Suddenly, instead of moving every season, people settled. More food meant more people, and more people led to cities, culture, and civilization.
突然间，人们不再需要每个季节迁徙，而是定居下来耕作。更多的食物意味着更多的人口，以及城市、文化与文明的诞生。
The First Agricultural Revolution was the beginning of a new way of living. Humans stopped moving around and started growing food by themselves.
第一次农业革命开启了一种全新的生活方式。人类不再四处迁徙，而是开始自己种植粮食。
II. The Second Agricultural Revolution
II. 第二次农业革命
From 1500 to 1850, mainly in Britain, people were looking for a new way to maximise production in farming.
1500年到1850年，英国的人们开始寻找提高农业产量的新方法。
With rising populations and growing cities, people needed more food, faster. So farmers switched from crops like rye to super-yielders like wheat and turnips. They added chemical fertilisers and upgraded to metal tools and machines.
随着人口增长、城市扩张，人们对食物的需求量增加，而且需要更快地生产。因此，农民们放弃了黑麦等作物，转而种植小麦和芜菁等高产作物。他们开始使用化肥，并升级了农具和机械设备。
With the flourishing of trade and rise of capitalism, farmers were also able to sell their crops to more distant regions.
随着贸易的繁荣和资本主义的兴起，农民们开始将农作物卖到更远的地区。
Agriculture was no longer just about feeding oneself; it became an opportunity to make a profit in an expanding market. The purpose of farming started shifting.
这时，农业不再仅仅是为了饱腹；它成为在不断扩大的市场中获利的机会。农业的目的也发生了转变。
Though the Second Revolution increased production, it also deepened the divide between rich and poor, urban and rural.
虽然第二次农业革命增加了生产力，但也加剧了贫富与城乡差距。
III. The Third Agricultural Revolution
III. 第三次农业革命
More recently, the third agricultural revolution took place between 1950 and the late 1960s.
第三次农业革命发生在1950至1960末期。
Also known as the Green Revolution, the third agricultural revolution was like farming in a more high-tech way. It started in Mexico and quickly spread with one main goal: to feed more people.
第三次农业革命也被称为绿色革命，采用了更加高科技的农业方式。它始于墨西哥，并迅速传到了世界各处。主要目标只有一个：养活更多人。
Populations were booming. Famines were increasing. So scientists made new innovations including modern irrigation systems, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers. Scientists also genetically engineered high-yielding and hybrid crops less susceptible to disease and climate.
由于人口激增，各地的饥荒日益增多。因此，科学家们发明了许多新的科技，如现代灌溉系统、杀虫剂、合成肥料等。他们还通过基因工程培育出高产且不易受病虫害和气候影响的杂交作物。
The results were incredible. Food production skyrocketed. Hunger dropped. The global population more than doubled.
结果令人瞩目。粮食产量飙升，饥饿人口锐减，全球人口增长了一倍多。
But this came at a cost. The heavy use of chemicals polluted water and soil. Crops used tons of water, leading to water shortages. Local plant varieties began disappearing, and pollinators like bees started suffering from pesticide exposure.
但这也是有代价的。大量的化学品严重污染了水源和土壤。农作物消耗了大量水资源，导致其短缺。当地的植物品种开始消失，蜜蜂等授粉昆虫也遭受杀虫剂的侵害。
From the first seeds planted in fertile post-Ice Age soil to the lab-engineered crops, each era solved a crisis: scarcity, urban hunger, global famine. But they also come with consequences—social inequality, environmental degradation, and the erosion of traditional food systems.
从冰河时代后肥沃土壤中播下的第一批种子，到实验室培育的作物，每个时代都解决了一个危机：粮食短缺、城市饥饿、全球饥荒。但它们也带来了相应的问题——社会不平等、环境恶化以及传统粮食系统的瓦解。
Today, climate change threatens harvests, biodiversity loss weakens ecosystems, and millions still face food insecurity despite unprecedented production.
如今，气候变化威胁着农作物，大量动物的灭绝导致生态系统失衡，数百万人也仍面临着粮食安全问题。
As we look ahead, the next chapter of agriculture might not be a fourth “revolution” in the traditional sense, but a fusion of ancient wisdom and science, of local knowledge and global collaboration.
未来，农业的第四次“革命”或许将会是古老智慧与现代科学的融合，也将是一个全球合作而生的“产物”。
Word | Meaning |
Agriculture | 农业 |
Revolution | 革命 |
Settle | 定居 |
Civilisation | 文明 |
Super-yielder | 高产作物 |
Fertiliser | 化肥 |
Profit | 利润 |
Urban | 城市 |
Rural | 农村 |
Innovation | 创新 |
Irrigation | 灌溉 |
Synthetic | 合成肥料 |
Susceptible | 易感作物 |
Pollinator | 授粉媒介 |
Degradation | 退化 |
Erosion | 侵蚀 |
Biodiversity | 生物多样性 |
Fusion | 融合 |
