"Tolkien’s Map and The Messed Up Mountains of Middle-earth" Article at Tor

[Woolshed Wargamer]

There is also the issue of where all the food comes from, but there's not much point getting into it (even though the Shire seems to be the only place in the entirety of Middle Earth that has actual farms).

When you are telling a tale of high adventure, who actually grows the grain for bread and beer is background noise