READER’S DIGEST
May• 2019 | 87hoursofhard work,”admits Juan
Antonio.Butthat’snothing,heinsists,
it’stheadministrativeloadthatdrags
himdown.“Thebitternessoflife
comesfromthepaperwork,”saysthe
oldshepherd,shakinghishead.
JuanAntonioistalkingaboutthe
ever-expandingrulesandregulations
thathavecontrolledthelivestock
industrysincechangesweremadeto
theEU’sCommonAgriculturePolicy
backintheearly2000s.Therulesare
designedtolowerfoodpricesand
controlfoodqualityandconsisten-
cy.Shepherdssaytheyvastlyfavour
intensiveanimalproductionand
makethelivelihoodofsmall-scale
shepherdswithfree-ranginganimals
unsustainable.
OnceJuanAntoniowasmoreor
lesslefttohisowndevices,buttoday
evensomethingasbasicasmovinga
goatfromoneplotoflandtoanother
requirestheapprovalofthelocalagri-
cultureoffice.Hishomemadedairyin
themountainsisnowtechnicallyille-
gal.Hissonisconstructinga dairyin
thenearbytownsothattheycansell
JuanAntonio’scheeseslegallyagain.
Yet in many ways, shepherds are
stillfreerthanmost.It’seveningon
therollingtundra,andJulia,Mario
andJuanAntoniostandintheshade
ofascrawnytree,thelandaround
thembathedinthelastoftheday’s
gentlesunlight.Theyarequietly
braidingstraw-colouredfibreasJuan
Antoniodemonstrateshowtoweave
thestrandsintoa good,strongsling.
“ThishasexistedsinceDavidand
Goliath,”saysJuanAntonio.“Didyou
knowthatDavidwasa shepherd?”
ForJulia,thisisthehighlightofthe
course,sittinguponthismountain
withherwisetutoratherside,watch-
ingtheanimalsandhearingtheir
bells.It’sa contentmentshe’swilling
toworktopreserve.
“Ihavethetoolstomakeshepherd-
ingsustainable,andtochangethesys-
tem,”shesays.It’syoungshepherds
likeher– savvyinthewaysofbothcity
andcountry– thatmaybewhatsaves
thisancientprofessionfromfading
intothepast.Juliaknowsthatthepath
aheadwillbedifficult,butthepeace
shefindsinthesemomentsmakesit
allworthit.Shegazesoutatthehori-
zonasthesundipslowovertherocky
terrain. “There is a lot to fight for.”WHERETHERE’SSMOKE...Greece’sdeputyhealthminister,PavlosPolakis,toldtheEuropean
Union’stophealthofficial,VytenisAndriukaitis,to“buttout”after
gettinga reprimandforsmokingin public.TheEUofficialalso
complained the health ministry smelt of cigarettes.REUTERS