The Urantia Papers emphasize the importance of gardening. Though Animal Science is not directly addressed, nonetheless, it fits within the broader context of gardening.
This is the Introduction to the Food For Thought study aid:
The Urantia Papers encourage gardening as a way of life. Progressive civilization and a positive relationship to gardening run parallel.
(66:7.19) Mankind was not consigned to agricultural toil as the penalty of supposed sin. “In the sweat of your face shall you eat the fruit of the fields” was not a sentence of punishment pronounced because of man’s participation in the follies of the Lucifer rebellion … Work with the soil is not a curse; rather is it the highest blessing to all who are thus permitted to enjoy the most human of all human activities.
This Topical Study provides a broader context to Genetic Introductions, Mutations, and Evolution: a Urantia Book perspective. Central themes are encapsulated in these two paragraphs:
(111:4.4) The inner and the outer worlds have a different set of values. Any civilization is in jeopardy when three quarters of its youth enter materialistic professions and devote themselves to the pursuit of the sensory activities of the outer world. Civilization is in danger when youth neglect to interest themselves in ethics, sociology, eugenics, philosophy, the fine arts, religion, and cosmology.
(69:8.12) Modern society is in reverse. Slavery has nearly disappeared; domesticated animals are passing. Civilization is reaching back to fire—the inorganic world—for power. Man came up from savagery by way of fire, animals, and slavery; today he reaches back, discarding the help of slaves and the assistance of animals, while he seeks to wrest new secrets and sources of wealth and power from the elemental storehouse of nature.
Gardening—“the highest blessing,” according to The Urantia Book—started out as woman’s work and then became the work of slaves. Increasingly, it becomes the work of machines. Industrialization has created an imbalanced ratio between the “city mice” and “country mice.” Acknowledging that humanity is “discarding the help of slaves” is not to encourage more slavery! This is to encourage turning gardening into a desirable activity that integrates animals.
I grew up on a decommissioned Pennsylvania farm. The refrigerated boxcar gave a new competitive advantage to midwest farming. So, the government subsidized the decommissioning of farms to help farmer transition into something else.
When I was a young child, my father, who loved tomatoes, said to me, “Your generation will never actually know just how good many fruits and vegetables can truly taste. Mechanized harvesting and transporting fresh fruits and vegetables over great distances means that the genetics are being manipulated for tougher skins and other considerations. Sorry, son.”
Maybe the challenges we face with farming and food production do not have to do primarily with new technologies or weather conditions. Maybe the first challenge to address is properly prioritizing broad participation in one of the most fundamental blessings related to being a human being—gardening.
UBtheNEWS Reports, [Research pages] and (Hybrids):
Dog Domestication research page: More than just a perspective on dog domestication, there is extensive commentary on the domestication of animals generally.
Farming In Europe research page: DNA evidence supports the account of Adam and Eve’s descendants entering Europe about 8,000 years ago and introducing farming.
Horsing Around report: Archaeological discoveries push back the date for horse domestication, consistent with The Urantia Book.