Longtime readers might recall the story of Amos Hertzler, an Amish boy in Cattaraugus County, NY who was born with a serious esophageal condition in addition to having Down Syndrome. We first heard of this case in 2011 when Amos was just a one-year-old. Amos hasn’t appeared in the news much lately from what I’ve been able to find, which you’d assume to be a…
Most Amish farmers are conventional farmers. But organic farming has taken off in some communities over the past decade or two despite some practical and cultural roadblocks. One of those communities is the Kalona, Iowa settlement, where today you’ll find over 90 certified organic operations, described in a recent Washington Post article as “one of the densest clusters of organic farms in the United States.” Amish…
Amish salve-maker Samuel Girod received his sentence Friday: LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A federal judge sentenced a Bath County Amish farmer to six years in prison on Friday morning. A federal jury handed down guilty verdicts against Samuel Girod in March for misbranding products. After serving six years, Girod will have three years of supervised release. He must also refrain from producing and manufacturing products…
Since at least 2013, one Lancaster County Amish farm has been home to a herd of camels, roaming fields where one might otherwise expect a different sort of four-legged beast. But what in the world are Arabian dromedaries doing on an Amish farm in Lancaster County? From the original AP report: Camel’s milk has arrived in Lancaster County, courtesy of Little Bit, Twila and their herd,…
MinnPost.com has an interesting article exploring the stories of two Amish-raised women who decided to leave their Amish lives behind. The main focus is on how these women – Susan Miller, 21, and Rebecca Swartzentruber, 36 – are now getting an education and pursuing goals outside their birth communities. The women have enrolled in the Hawthorne Education Center in Rochester, Minnesota. This is a stone’s throw from…
An Amish-owned horse decided to go for a little ride with no one behind the wheel, so to speak. The incident happened Sunday morning in the Holmes County, OH community. From the Wooster Daily Record: Ohio State Patrol Sgt. C.O. Smith was the one of a a small group of law enforcement officers from the patrol, Wooster Police Department and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office who…
An interesting letter appeared at Lancaster Online today: In response to the June 10 letter “GOP and Amish: A match made in heaven”: Instead of imagining an Amish man as our nation’s president, let’s take a closer look at values and the purpose of the Amish culture in hopes of inspiring all people to seek and turn to God, the creator of all the universe! The Amish and…
Members of Amish and four other Lancaster County churches came together for a group singing recently, an event which happens every “couple of years.” If you’ve ever wondered what Amish church song sounds like, the audio clip below gives you a feel for it. You’ll hear “As Jesus Christ, the Son of God”, found on page 217 of Anabaptist songbook The Ausbund (note: to listen,…
Bill and Tricia Moser were living in one of America’s wealthiest communities when they stepped away, launching a journey of faith that ultimately led them to become Old Order Amish—adopting the plain life exemplified by the horse and buggy. They and their six children remained Old Order Amish for 15 years, but in 2014 they left their community and joined an Amish-Mennonite church in Missouri….
Farm co-ops connect Amish growers with urban markets they’d otherwise have challenges reaching by themselves. The Washington Post has a story on a co-op located in Franklin County, Pennsylvania called Path Valley Farms. The operation’s 20 Amish farmers provide produce for over 50 Washington, D.C. restaurants – items like heirloom tomatoes, horseradish, squash, and watercress. So how do low-tech Amish farmers coordinate, market and deliver…