Tradition is an important player in the way we govern and behave today. It has played a key role in our past and in many ways defines our personalities and habits. One place where tradition still has a large hold is in small-scale agriculture. This is readily apparent not only in the methods used, but also in the manner of the farmer and how they use their traditions and knowledge to survive and be successful. As a result, changing any aspect of farm operation, even for the better, can be difficult. However, there are no absolute truths and change is inevitable.

   A large part of changing for the better is to be progressive, moving incrementally towards a goal, without losing our traditions and identities. However, this is easier said than done. As a group there is a trend to cling to different aspects of our lives. As an individual, one should decide which traditional parts of our lifestyle that we want to keep and which ones should be changed; which ones are hurting more than helping. There is also a need to focus on how individual actions for security and change are affecting others and the larger global community.

   It seems that the more I experience and the more I understand, the more important everything is. It is hard to give merit to things that have no personal meaning, or even aspects of life that have not yet been noticed or given proper thought. Yet this does not mean they are any less important. It is easy to be confused and overwhelmed because every bit of information seems important. This is why complete and utter change can not occur all at once. Only a few aspects can be considered at one time; however, it is important to keep everything else in the back of our minds. To me, Human Ecology is about letting go of obstructive securities and embracing more information and experience than was previously thought possible, and then being able to incorporate all this into life and act.

   Once an individual has the Human Ecology bug, it becomes infectious and everybody must be helped and the world saved. However, the first place where change needs to occur is in ourselves; especially in how we go about making changes and helping others. A true Human Ecologist would not go charging into a situation and attempt to change everything.

   An example to illuminate this opinion comes from when I visited a farm for a Cooperative Extension program. Each state has a Cooperative Extension, it is an educational system that enables people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships that put experience and research knowledge to work. For example it organizes visits of interested or beginning farmers with those that have been successfully farming for years. Such visits are particularly helpful for farmers looking for ways to improve their own farms by seeing what works for others.

   For the particular extension program I attended, a group traveled to three different farms for a site visit. The first farm that we went to was very progressive. We parked in the dirt pull-off opposite the farm. Everyone emerged from their vehicles wearing their quilted shirts and work boots. It was obvious that I was new; my age and COA sweatshirt made this clear. They offered nods of welcome but then saw their friends from other farms and the surrounding area and in ten seconds they were all deep into conversation joking and enjoying each other...trade;s company. As a group they crossed the road and went down the farm...trade;s driveway. I trotted behind them. We were greeted by a large tub of disinfectant and scrub brushes. For those of the crew who didn...trade;t want to disinfect or didn...trade;t wear their waterproof boots there were plastic booties that could go over their shoes. There was a good, strong emphasis put on biosafety when visiting different farms so that we would not spread diseases. Each person disinfected their shoes diligently by balancing on one foot at a time and never skipped a beat in their conversations. The more quiet ones in our group were very deliberate and did everything skillfully. As a group we toured the farm and listened to the farmers explain how their operation worked. Every once in a while one of the two cooperative extension agents who organized the program would pipe in with some comments or thoughts. However, most of the time was spent trying to keep Patty the goat from nibbling on our plastic booties.

   After our two-hour visit; we disinfected again and drove to the next farm on the program list. The caravan of vehicles wound their way back to the main road and then joined the highway. We turned off onto our exit, went through a few towns and then turned down a stream of small one-lane dirt roads. We arrived at the farm around 1:00 and were greeted by an older gentleman. His farm was way back into the woods and bordered by a river. He lived in a large log cabin; the two-story barn was off to the right and the pasture off to the left of the house. He welcomed us into the barn and clearly thought our disinfectant foot bath and plastic booties were slightly ridiculous. After our disinfectant parade he showed us to the barn. We talked about his farm and the flock of sheep that he kept. We then walked out of the barn and looked at his fields and talked about grazing. His fields sloped into a large river. The main, two-acre field was alfalfa, and we talked about the benefits of grazing animals on alfalfa. He said that all he did in the spring was put in a high nitrogen fertilizer. Considering that alfalfa is a nitrogen-fixing plant, technically all the fields should need is maybe some initial innoculant. I could feel the Human Ecology bug welling up when I heard the large amount of fertilizer that he used. I remember reading that if too much fertilizer is given to a field of nitrogen-fixing plants they will subsequently stop fixing nitrogen and use the inorganic fertilizer instead. In addition, this was an old field in a constant alfalfa state and was probably brimming with nitrogen and it was leaching out down the slope and into the river, polluting it.

   After looking at the field we walked over to the paddock where his sheep were being kept. The sheep began evasive maneuvers and ran to the other side of the paddock. I noticed that many of their butts were dirty from scours (diarrhea). Rich grazing fields, such as alfalfa, is one of the few reasons for scours. However, he said that they did quite well, and after some hay, he would put them out onto the alfalfa. Some of them did get dirty butts but it didn...trade;t really seem to be a problem at all. This was surprising because most farmers are very wary of scours because it is one of the greatest causes of lamb death.

   Throughout the whole visit, it was difficult to only ask questions but there was no need to assert that he might be wrong in some of the ways he ran his farm. There were still so many questions to be answered and there wasn...trade;t enough information to make any type of definite conclusions. There were theories but those aren...trade;t enough to challenge a person...trade;s way of life and years of experience. However with concerns raised, soil and water samples would need to be taken and the sheep observed. It could be that there was actually very little nitrogen leeching into the river and that the lamb...trade;s scours were not from high nitrogen pasture but from a worm infestation. These are important questions that would need to be answered before sitting down for a serious discussion with the farmer. It...trade;s important to consider that this type of farm management has been used for decades by this farmer and he hasn...trade;t had any problems that would cause him to worry. However, if it turned out that there was significant leeching into the river and the lambs weren...trade;t growing at decent rate because of the scours, then making some small changes to help the farmer be more successful with less of an impact on the environment would be needed. Maybe the first step would be to reduce the amount of unnecessary fertilizer on the fields, which would not only lower leeching but save the farmer money. Most farmers are practical and if changes are going to help them out you usually have their attention. However they are usually resistant to changing a tradition that has worked for them and their families. It is the job of the Human Ecologist to find a good balance of tradition, ideals, and information/research. I have found that one of the toughest decisions is whether to interfere or to let it be.

   I ran into another very similar situation when starting my own garden back home. After taking a few classes on plants and soil I felt moderately confident. I did enlist the help of my Grandmother because she had a lot of experience farming. About fifteen years ago, she had two acres of vegetables, fields of corn, and a large herd of white-faced cattle. She would pop by the house and give me a few pointers, which were gratefully accepted.

   One particular day after the plot was prepped, I was ready to amend the soil and start seeding. I had my soil test sheet in one hand and the boxes of blood and bone meal at my feet. At that moment my Grandmother popped by and saw what I was up to. When she found out I was ...#339;fertilizing" she offered to take me downtown to get a bag of 10-15-10, an inorganic fertilizer, for my plots. When I showed her my soil test and explained that I wanted to be as natural as possible and was going to use blood and bone meal instead. As she inspected the boxes her lips pursed, her eyebrows came together, and she asked, ...#339;So this is dried blood and ground up bones?" She seemed half bewildered and disgusted that people would actually box this stuff and use it instead of proven 10-15-10 fertilizer. We talked about the organic soil amendments and looked at the soil test sheet. In the end she wasn...trade;t entirely convinced but told me to try what I thought would be best. She knew that that my livelihood didn...trade;t depend on it and that I wasn...trade;t gardening for instant results. I wanted to improve the soil quality of my garden by enriching it and not just adding to it every year. I also wanted better tasting vegetables and a little bit of peace of mind while I ate them.

   For me Human Ecology is about living with consciousness and being conscious of actions and their effects on the surrounding environment. In effect Human Ecology is how to make changes without sacrificing our identities and traditions. In this way, one drawback is that putting Human Ecology to work can be very confusing and often frustrating. If it isn...trade;t, then all of the possible outcomes have not been considered.

   Being oblivious to outcomes is no longer an acceptable option. As a community, large and small, change must be made by starting small while keeping the larger picture in mind because every action has its effect. If the effects of actions or inactions are not studied then all of the traditions and all of the advancements that are made don...trade;t make any positive difference, and no amount of change can help. Human Ecology needs follow-through and dedication. Most of all it needs the ability for everyone to change oneself for the better.