Human uses of living things used; and as symbols or concepts through totemism and animism. More recently, anthropologists have also seen living things as participants in human social interactions. This article describes the roles played by living things in human culture, so defined. The human population exploits and depends on a large number of animal and plant species for food, mainly through agriculture, an essential component of human culture, but also by exploiting wild populations, notably of marine fish. Livestock animals are raised for meat across the world; they include (2011) around 1.4 billion cattle, 1.2 billion sheep and 1 billion domestic pigs. Plants provide
Human uses of living things Human uses of living things Human uses of living things, including animals plants, fungi, and microbes, take many forms, both practical, such as the production of food and clothing, and symbolic, as in art, mythology, and religion. The skills and practices involved are transmitted by human culture through social learning. Plants provide the greater part of the food for people and their domestic animals: much of human culture and civilisation came into being through agriculture. While a large number of plants have been used for food, a small number of staple crops including wheat, rice, and maize provide most of