What does "live off the land" mean?

[camtieu]

live off the land= to live by eating only the food that one produces from the land; to survive by gathering or stealing food, fruits, berries, eggs, etc.

Example:

+ while traveling through the countryside. We lived off the land for a few years when we first started out farming.
+ The homeless man wandered about, living off the land.

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/live+off+the+land

[dewdrops]

camtieu
didn't mean to offend with POM....just that we use it so often over here it is the norm ..guess put my foot in my mouth again..sorry SteveC..what I really meant was both countries are colonies..

as for living off the land..from what I can gather ..it is not just fruit and berries..but also animals/fish..hunting/fishing/witchetty grubs

[SteveC]

Dewdrops

I am accustomed to the use of acronyms, so no offense was taken.

Here we also have words that are offensive to other groups. If someone within the group says it, it is no so offensive. If someone outside the group uses these same words, it seems it is taken as extremely offensive.

[dewdrops]

SteveC glad you understand...tends to write/speak before I think..bad habit can't seem to shake off..

[lthv22]

Should it be "live off the fat of the land" instead?

Rely heavily and make uses of on the natural resources, whatever the land offers.
Like the people from the southern Vietnam where the the resources are abundant.

[SteveC]

It could be said that way, if the land is fat

But, there are places where the pickings are lean (and thus not so fat), and people still live off the land

[zhaoyipeng024]

******ing Services Our girls are Phoenix ****** available for both out and in calls, visiting yourresidence, hotel or accompanying you to any type of social event. Our entertainers arebetween 19 - 35 years of age, good Phoenix ******s looking and with charming, fun personalities. Eachof our adult entertainers Phoenix Asian ****** are caring and discreet. A lady will not rush you and herservice Phoenix Asian ******s is impeccable. She will be appropriately dressed for any occasion from a casual dinner date to accompanying you to formal events. If you have special requirementswith regard to style of dress, please do not hesitate to ask