God emphasized his first command not to eat the fruit by mentioning eating several times in 3:17–19. The judgment made it harder for humans to get food. This matched their sin of eating what God had forbidden.
cursed is the ground: The man's relationship with the ground (see study note on 2:7) became hostile as judgment affected his main role (2:5, 15). He must work hard to cultivate the ground, but with less success than before. Human sin impacts all of creation (see 4:12; 6:7; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 11:13–17, 28; Romans 8:22).