This Week's Theme: Agriculture and Farming | AskHistorians Archive Observer

This is such a cool theme! I have two questions I want to ask, but can't think of how to ask them without violating the throughout history rule.

One, there is a popular great chain of progress idea that once you go agricultural you never go back, but I would love to read some discussions of cultures who transitioned from more of a farming to more of a foraging lifestyle. Just can't figure out how to phrase that one without breaking rules.

Second, and this might be more a human ecology question, but how do I phrase a question about the gradual and fuzzy distinction between foragers and farmers? Foragers routinely manage their ecosystem to promote the growth of desired plants, and encourage the movement of prey animals to their hunting grounds. Agriculturalists routinely supplement their caloric intake with foraged and hunted foods. It seems like only a few steps of intensity to go from tending a wide variety of plants/animals to specialising in only a few, yet we popularly think a huge gulf exists between foragers and sedentary agricultural groups. Can anyone smarter than me think of how to ask that question? :)