Amish America

Vandalized

Here's a pretty mundane news story about Amish buggy warning signs being painted over with big red X's in Minnesota.

This sort of thing goes on to greater and lesser degrees in many places where the Amish live.  Could the culprits be English bigots, kids out for a prank, Amish youth even?  Does it matter?  Just a dumb thing to do.


More interesting was the comment of a local highway engineer, who described himself as being 'sickened.'  The general rational-thinking public seems to react pretty strongly whenever it seems the Amish are being picked on.  And perhaps even moreso today, post-Nickel Mines.  It's true this could have potentially endangered some buggy drivers.

Why do some non-Amish come out so strongly for the Amish?  Some English idolize the Amish, perhaps having a misguided, false-nostalgiac view of them as representing a lost, purer past.  Some idealize them as innocent, more virtuous than the common man, even helpless to a degree, and thus deserving of extra protection.  That's a pretty condescending viewpoint to take.  Most Amish certainly don't see themselves that way, or wouldn't want to be viewed in that manner anyway. 

In any case, it often works to the benefit of the Amish, from the times of conflict over schooling to the present day, seen in the support given after the shootings.  Yet as the story shows, some seem to have quite opposite feelings towards the Amish.  It's funny how a group that claims itself to be not of this world can in fact be so polarizing among those of this world. 

Milk!

photo: Jerry Olson/Post-Bulletin

The last creamery in Minnesota to accept milk in cans--mostly provided by local Amish--no longer does.  I guess you call that an end of an era.

Milk is an important liquid in Amish America.  And surprisingly, a controversial one as well.

Some Amish farmers have gotten in trouble for selling raw milk. 

Others are 'going organic' to tap into a more profitable niche market, in the face of competition from big-time bulk producers. 

Qualifying for organic status means not using any sort of pesticides on your farm over a certain length of time.  Though there's probably more to it than just that.

Once organic, you get to charge more per pound of milk.  You may also feel good knowing it ends up in a fancy carton covered with encouraging all-natural, wholesome sales copy.

photo:  Mike Wade/AP-TURE

A lot of people, vegans mostly it seems, aren't happy with the dairy industry in general.  They find the practice of constantly impregnating heifers to be cruel.  They also dislike the idea of male cows being separated and slaughtered for veal.  It does seem a little nasty when you stop and think about it.

In any case cows don't have a monopoly in the world of milk:  some Amish milk goats.  At least one milks sheep.  Apparently milk from goats and sheep is healthier, or higher in certain vitamins.

Milkin' time usually happens twice a day, most often at 12 hour intervals.  Usually around 4 or so.  Try not to bug a farmer at milkin' time, he has his hands full.

Lazy farmers may get themselves in trouble:  unmilked cows may develop mastitis, or 'go dry'. 

Milk is also a key ingredient in buttery, fatty, scrumptious Amish food.  Here is a sweet recipe. I haven't tried it yet, but bet these would go great with a glass of ice cold milk.  Credit to the Amish Cook:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Brownies

• 1 c. butter
• 2/3 c. white sugar
• 2/3 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1 c. flour
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 2 c. oatmeal
• 2 c. chocolate chips, divided

Beat butter, sugars and eggs until fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients and most of the chocolate chips. Spread into 9-by-13-inch pan. Sprinkle with the rest of the chocolate chips. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

Weird diseases

Random fact:

photo by skrasii

Some Amish avoid vaccination.

Why?

The reasoning is similar to why almost all Amish avoid insurance:  placing faith in an outside body instead of in God.

A lot more Amish do vaccinate their kids than participate in insurance programs, however.  The motive rings clear to non-Amish ears--why take the chance with your child's life?

I just dug up an article in the Washington Post from late 2005, when a Minnesota Amish community was stricken with the first case of polio in the US in 26 years.  Polio, eradicated in the Western Hemisphere years back, is just one of those things you don't see anymore: specialists were dumbstruck on getting the news, with one saying simply 'you have made a mistake.'


Reading this reminded me that last time I was in Amish Indiana I ran into whooping cough.

Whooping cough?  Sounds like 'dropsy' or 'colic', one of those Dickensian-type illness terms you never hear anymore.

But apparently whooping cough, or pertussis, is a lot more common than I thought, with 30-50 million cases worldwide, causing around 300,000 deaths a year, according to this wiki.

A mom of one of the sick kids asked me if I had had my whooping cough shots.

'Uhhh...I hope so..?'  was my weak reply, hoping that ma and pa had remembered to take care of that for me.

Seems like it might not have mattered, since immunity through childhood vaccination usually just covers the early, most susceptible years, before weakening at adolescence.