Agri-Culture

Chapter 7

Ecological Literacy

Knowledges of Nature

Despite great technological advances in agriculture, the value of the knowledges and practices of local communities is only slowly being acknowledged. We often use the word traditional, yet it remains a problematic term. To many, it implies a backward step – knowledge wrapped up in superstition or quaint old ways – and there is no place for this in our modern world. Traditional, though, is best thought of as not a body of knowledge itself, but the process of knowing. If our lives involve continuous writing and rewriting of our own stories, through adjusting behaviour, incorporating new understanding ...