Part Five takes a deep look at some of Vermont's cherished traditions: participatory democracy and the conservation ethic, from the ideas of George Perkins Marsh, one of America's first environmentalists, to contemporary volunteer groups and activist movements. We capture 21st century debates over natural resources, then circles back in time to show how these concerns originate in the ethics of farmers, who depended on the natural world for their survival. The disappearance of dairy farms has raised a tough question: how big is too big? How can Vermont survive in a world economy? Can Vermont be a model for small, local and self-sufficient farming?