Traditional Agriculture Fair, Barrika, Euskal Herria, Spain It is very unlikely that this girl will take on her family’s tradition of Idiazabal cheese making. A survey of Basque history, anthropology and archeology shows a continuous presence of sheep herding communities in this region for at least 10,000 years. Documents, as well as conversation with farmers attribute this persistence to three words: tradition, innovation, and flexibility. Yet in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, this zeal for progress has steered people away from agricultural tradition and toward the service industry causing massive depopulation of rural lands.

Weekly farmer’s market, Gernika-Lumo, Euskal Herria, Spain A smallholding farmer displays her harvest of peppers, walnuts, and eggs. At 87, she is the end of a line that connects her family to a specific baserri (small family owned farm) for countless generations. With her death (as with the death of her generation) comes the death of thousands of years of knowledge about farming in this region. But, while the end of tradition saddens elderly farmers, they also celebrate their children’s move towards better-remunerated jobs and more comfortable lives.