The Missionary Comes to the Farm
Once there was a farmer and his wife who had the idea that he could feed his family and friends on their small plot. So he and his wife decided to purchase ten gilts, as they felt that these would easily supply their wants, those of their friends and neighbors and even have a few left over to sell elsewhere. When these were of age they were bred. Each had 8 piglets hungry and eager.
Before the farmer and his wife made the venture, they asked people in the area what grew and how well. They wanted to adapt their plans to the nature of pigs, land climate and seeds. They learned about the daily weather, amount of rain, the make up and nature of soil They found that barley, corn and alfalfa loved the soil and climate. The farmer, who had grown up on a farm, remembered the nature of pigs and those qualities possessed.
Pigs have eager appetites and love to root. But the rooting is due to their desire to find food. It is figured that tons of earth worms, beetle larvae, roots, rhizomes, minerals exist in just an acre of land. If trees are near by the better, if these are nut trees. Pigs can fatten on acorns.
They planned to hand sow three paddocks. One of barley, one of corn (they decided on sweet corn- they figured that the pigs could eat the sweet corn but the husband and wife could partake too) and one paddock of alfalfa.
They were living on a shoe string , low on cash, poor by many standards but smart. They hoped someday to have a small tractor or mule, plow and disc. They had to choose between these (which would be nice to have) and the seed and gilts. They wisely concluded that the grains and pigs they could eat but everything they read said that heavy metal was dangerous to consume.
So with paddocks in place but unplowed and the soil unturned they adapted. They let the gilts first into one paddock and then another. The pigs when released viewed this as heaven. Here they were faced with what they were fit and made to do- root, plow and till. Many benefits here. It may be that they were unaware but as they ate grubs, larvae, insects, weeds, grass they acquired the exercise they would need to bare their young in the season to come. Their strength improved, they rooted more vigorously and consequently ate more, had more energy and in the end thoroughly plowed one at a time all three paddocks. The gilts had to be supplemented with grains. But they had figured this as part of the budget.
As each paddock was cleared, in one barley was planted, corn in another and alfalfa in the last.
The gilts were bred. Each gave a litter of 8 to 9 piglets. Soon in rotation about 95 hogs were let loose on one paddock after the next. A few of the piglets died, one was eaten by a coyote, a few fell ill and died and one disappeared. Loaded up at seasons end 83 hogs went to a local market. A handsome profit was made and everything looked good. They were proud that they had adapted the ways of pigs to the land and the climate. They were proud that they had adapted their life in a meaningful way to their home.
Then one day a missionary type came down the lane and, as he talked to the farmer and his wife he looked about the farm, asked where the equipment was, the heated shed for the sows and cement floors to prevent rooting. He also told them that they could bring far more efficient machines to till and work the soil which would increase their productivity. A small loan from the bank would give them the cash flow they needed to expand and increase their production. The wife asked why the bank would just give them money. The missionary told her and her husband that they would make a small payment to return the money over a long period of time. The farmer and his wife would make a profit and so would the bank. He added that if they were wise and had kept pace with new approaches they would know that larger fields could be tilled, weeds could be kept in check with herbicides, since machines would do this instead of the hogs. Insecticides, as insects are a nuisance, are a must, since the pigs would no longer graze the fields for larvae. But the trade off would be that their harvest per acre would dramatically increase. Besides additional loans down the road would allow them to expand, increase their productivity.
The farmer and his wife resisted. The missionary after a while became impatient. He told them that they must learn to adapt. That before they became too old they should learn the power and wisdom of modernity and get with it. He quickly added that all the universities filled with phds and such knew that the new way was the best. Still the husband and wife expressed some doubt. Finally the missionary waved his hand in the air and left in disgust.
The farmer and his wife wondered if the missionary had a point and that perhaps they should take his advice. But, as the farmer and his wife walked into the house, a blue bird sat on the post near the door with an insect in its mouth, a robin was plucking a worm from the lawn and bees were abuzz in the fields about. That is music that no amount of iron and cash flow could ever better.
I ask the reader to think about the damage done by the business/industrial mentality to the art of farming. How industry and business have used marketing to promote their activity. How business and industry have designed a marketing system which casts a cloud of ignorance and stupidity overt those who resist the "new way" in order to marginalize the arguments of anyone who resists and objects. Imagine the distance which a business/industrial mentality has put between the nature of life/ the needs of the individual and those who are responsible a quality future.
As a teacher of 37 years (now retired) I shudder to think what a business/industrial/technological mentality is doing to education. Machines/gadgetries/technology are valued far above the wisdom and experience and adaptations a teacher makes to be successful. Industry and business have done much harm to farming and now technology and cash are doing it to education.
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