I admit that I am kind of ambivalent about the Amish moving into the area. On one hand they do keep land in agriculture that would probably otherwise be developed. On the other hand they enjoy a reputation for good farming and good cooking that is pretty much undeserved. And they get away with a lot of stuff that us regular folks would get arrested for.
They abuse their horses beyond belief. It is nothing for them to hook up a Standardbred that is already lame in three out of four legs and drive it until it can barely stand, tie it up hot, throw a rug over it, and drive it back the same distance when they are done shopping. One that we know gelded a stallion he bought off the track and then drove it forty miles. If the horses don’t go they beat the heck out of them, and yes, I have seen them do so personally. They are not required to follow the same sanitation laws as regular farmers and yet can sell their products right out of their kitchens. They do not follow either hunting or trespassing laws. One friend of ours walked into an Amish yard last year and found five deer hanging….in the summer, out of season. Does, fawns, whatever they can find. However, because of the mystique of their culture it is all good and nobody bothers them.
Anyhow, some of the new group went to the new farmers’ market last week selling pies.
They charged ten dollars a pie. (Pretty pricey, even for the best of pies.) However, a friend who was there purchased one of those ten-dollar pies and took it home and served it, only to discover that the pie contained exactly six berries.
That’s right.
Six.
When I told the boss, he said, "That’s not a pie it’s a turnover."
To my, "huh?" he replied.
"A turnover from your friend’s wallet to theirs."
Yep, that about says it all.
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11 comments:
Heh.
I won't buy anything promoted as "Amish" - if I can help it, they won't get a penny of my money. Mainly because of their prominence in the puppy mill/farming racket. And for some of the reasons you mentioned - a friend who farms in western Michigan has told me that abuse of livestock is common in that community.
I am far from an animal rights sort of person, but when I see ordinary people have their horses taken away from them because their yard is muddy-after ten inches of rain-as has happened here in recent years it bugs me. Then I watched them spend a year in court and never get their horses back, while Amish do whatever they want, well it is just wrong.
Oh, I'm no AR fan either, far from it. But there's no excuse for abusing animals, particularly under the penumbra of some religious right, and I choose not to support it.
Believe me I agree. I am not too happy about the hunting stuff either. Although there is such a thing as too many deer, the Amish community moved in last spring and we have not seen one single deer on our property for eight months, except one last night. We used to see them EVERY night. That kind of hunting is why we have game laws. We used to have a buck that came down and played with my daughter's horse. He lived right behind the barn. Gone now.
Where are the game wardens? This has been an eyeopening post for me.
Thanks.
Our game wardens are stretched terribly thin, with a lot of territory for each to cover. I think there is also such a fascination with the Amish lifestyle that they are forgiven for a great deal. We do have more than our share of "English" (as they call us) game outlaws as well, so I certainly can't blame them entirely for the dearth of deer.
Thanks for the comment, Dan.
One can't help but admire their work ethic and dedication to their lifestyle. However, there is a certain buyer beware component to doing business with them.
It would also behoove those who eat at the food stands that they run at local auctions to realize that the milk in the mason jar on the counter for the coffee was just hand milked out of a cow out in the barn without benefit of either pastuerization or refrigeration.
We drink our own raw milk, but we can't sell it to the public and legally neither should they.
I once bought an apple pie from a roadside Amish stand. Ha, it was canned apples. Tasted horrible.
A co-worker with my husband who worked for the state and raised draft horses as a hobby stated the same thing about the Amish mistreating their animals. He refused to sell any of his horses to them. He said they often underfed the big horses to keep them manageable, and years ago when we were out for a country drive we stopped at a herbal farm and bought some plants. We got to talking with the owner and she said when the Amish bought the land bordering her farm, she discovered they were cutting down all her good lumber. When she caught them in the act, they explained they didn't think the trees belonged to anyone! Also at a local history lecture the professior said he appreciated how hard working they were, but they always built a sawmill and all the woods in the area disappears. I don't understand why they are able to mistreat their animals, they have to obey the laws same as everyone else.
Another question, why didn't your friend report all those hanging deer. I sure being Amish doesn't allow them to hunt out of season.
Hi Karen,
I really don't know why the kid didn't report them. Maybe didn't want to throw neighbors in the bag or something. Thanks for stopping by,
Mr. Fab,
The boss doesn't usually do plays on words like that, but that one just occurred to him and we all about laughed our gizards out.
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