have had millenia (close to three, I reckon), of close interaction with a complex culture of production and exchange that did not necessarily draw a fixed line between the urban and the rural. Tikal, for instance, appears to have been a vast, self-sustaining agro-urban, commercial and religious center. A nice chunk of the religious narrative was recycling - including the recycling of human bodies. People is Soylent Green no matter where they live.

seeing Maya women farming corn - and in Guatemala brocoli, etc on steep slopes  - and in Peru seeing some of the Incas' intricate water systems still in use for agriculture (even in an otherwise desert)- has helped my appreciation of how, if one keeps it simple, but is clever with use of water and does not abuse the soil and respects the Earth (Pachamama), it's possible  (though barely) to have sustainable food production.