Final answer:
Societies started producing their own food roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago during the Agricultural Revolution, leading to settled life and the growth of the first economies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Dawn of Agriculture
Some societies began producing their own food with the onset of the Agricultural Revolution, which occurred around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. This period marked the transition from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of farming and domesticating animals. The earliest evidence of agriculture includes the cultivation of wheat and barley and the domestication of goats and sheep, which can be traced back to the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. The introduction of agriculture led to the establishment of the first true economies, as people were no longer nomadic and could build settlements, leading to an increase in population and the development of specialized crafts and trade.
Agriculture began independently in various regions such as the Fertile Crescent, Indus, Yangtze, and Yellow river valleys, New Guinea highlands, Sub-Saharan Africa, and later in the western hemisphere in areas like the eastern United States, central Mexico, and northern South America. As a result of agriculture, civilizations could focus on crop sowing, tending, and harvesting, initiating a fundamental change in human society that led to the growth of villages, towns, cities, and eventually empires.