Simple Living Helps Survival 

NYT

Amish farming practices help them survive drought

A Modern Day Paradox

Amish Farming: A Modern Day Paradox
Craig Kolodge, Farm Advisor, Santa Clara County
Cooperative Extension

"Amish society emphasizes informal learning- through doing, a life of
goodness, rather than a life of intellect; wisdom, rather than technical
knowledge; community welfare, rather than competition; and separation, rather than integration with contemporary worldly society."
-Chief Justice Warren Burger.

Africans 'Brothers' to the Amish Farmers

The Masai of Kenya and Tanzania are struggling with poor education, inadequate health services, shrinking land, and a lack of water. During a rare U.S. visit, 15 Masai tribespeople learned that many indigenous groups face similar challenges.

Important Food Links 

We've been duped all along by ambition...

Bad Foods NOT Bad After All

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Avoid eggs. Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Eating carbs will make you fat. Nutritional advice such as this has been touted for years -- but is it accurate? Not necessarily, according to Wendy Repov

Hand Made Amish Quilts 

Special Auction

Amish Farmers and Stewardship 

Living like the earth means something

The Amish are, of course, known for their pastoral way of life. Up until now, they have been somewhat better off than their "English" farming brethren, as their beliefs and practices have enabled them to avoid the crushing debt and experimental farming practices that have driven so many out of business. Stewards of the Land

The Amish seek no loans, as interest on those loans is considered 'usury' and therefore sinful.

They have not taken on the debt required to purchase, maintain and operate modern farming equipment since they use as little of that as possible, and still use draft animals for plowing and reaping.

Yet they are still subject to market prices and governmental regulation of food, which imposes a great deal of burden from the outside.

While the Amish small farmer may be the last one standing, in the face of huge corporate warehouse management, they won't be able to stand forever in an environment like this one.

Farming Problems & the Law 

ABC News: Amish Farmer Says Milk Law Opposes Beliefs

Amish Farmer Says Milk Law Opposes Beliefs

ABC News: Judge Rules Against Farmer in Raw Milk Case

Judge Rules Against Farmer in Raw Milk Case

Amish Bishop's Upcoming Meeting 

Rare opportunity to ask your questions!

Amish Bishops are having a special meeting about the state of farming, the effects of NAIS on Amish farms, the Amish position on this program, and what they anticipate the effects will be on their community. I have been invited to be part of this meeting and to bring questions. I am also inviting you! Don't miss the opportunity to submit your questions!

Stephene Very good lens. I am going to add to my favorites and 5 stars. Feel free to visit my Colon Cleanse site. Thank you. Posted March 20, 2008

Linn

I called Pennsylvania Gazette to say some Amish dairy farmers were giving away herds rather than accept NAIS. I said that Monsanto was behind NAIS and that Hillary Clinton's campaign is run by Monsanto - the same corporation blocking labeling of milk with its GE-hormone it. I said that if Hillary gets in, she will - like Bill did with the FDA - put Monsanto in charge of her new centralized Department of Food "Safety" and at the next Mad Cow "scare" (not caused by small farmers), she would boldly make NAIS mandatory. I said that rBGH milk increases the risk of breast cancer up to 7 fold.

The editor, Tom Birdsong, said he's not worried about the milk, don't trust the internet, Pittsburgh is not farm country, he's not interested in one-issue topics cuz he does political reporting. He never heard of NAIS, or farmers being sued, and if true, how come it's not in the paper (ahem), or farmers calling.

His number is 412-263-3068, tbirdsong@post-gazette.com

Posted March 12, 2008

edward wenger

I have started to give info to a bishop on nais ! Ron Paul a republican congressmen is running for president he is the only canidate against NAIS ! Google Ron Paul and NAIS ! Thank you . ED

Posted October 26, 2007

SemperFidelis A 5 to you! I can't believe anyone would rate this lens less. Keep up the good work. :o) Posted October 16, 2007

michael

Leave these people alone. Considering that govt. can not do anything right lately, do not mess up this simple beautiful religious way of life.

Posted August 08, 2007

 

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Belgian Draft Horses 

Beloved by Amish Farmers

The same medieval 'heavy horse' that was so powerful in war time, and such an asset on farms and trade. Belgian Draft Horse Information " The Belgian, as the name implies, is native to the country of Belgium. This little country is blessed with fertile soil and abundant rainfall providing the thrifty farmers of Belgium with the excellent pastures and the hay and grain necessary to develop a heavy, powerful breed of horse.

Belgium lies in the very center of that area of western Europe that gave rise to the large black horses known as Flemish horses and referred to as the "Great Horses" by medieval writers. They are the horses that carried armored knights into battle. Such horses known to exist in that part of Europe in the time of Caesar. They provided the genetic material from which nearly all the modern draft breeds are fashioned."

Percheron 

The breed derives its name from the place that served as its cradle. Le Perche is an old province about 53 by 66 miles located some 50 miles southwest of Paris. It bordered Normandy on the northeast and the Beauce country, known as the granary of France, on the east. It is a gently rolling, well-watered and fertile place with a benign climate, pre-eminently suited to the raising of livestock. It was, thus, ideally situated to capitalize on trade opportunities as they arose following the middle ages and well into the modern era.

From the earliest known times the people of Le Perche have been producers of horses, not often buyers, always free sellers to the adjacent areas and, ultimately, the world. In the matter of breeding horses they were a world unto themselves.

This is how Alvin Sanders, author of A History of the Percheron Horse (©1917) describes the race of men who developed this race of horse: "Their horses are a part of their inheritance, particularly prized and accustomed to the affectionate attention of the entire household. Their docility, growing out of their intimate human relationship, is therefore an inborn trait".

Traditionally it has been a race with a preponderance of greys. Old paintings and crude drawings from the middle ages affirm this. The French Knight is almost always portrayed on a grey or white charger. Their mounts are depicted as horses with considerable substance for that time, but without coarseness.

Horses 

Teaming Up With Charlie's Horses

Teaming Up With Charlie's Horses

Farm Aid Rehearsals 

Genetically Modified Food 

BBC - Press Office - Bitter Harvest

Amish tobacco farming, using genetically modified nicotine-free tobacco. Discussion by Jeremy Rifkin

Organicness of farms

Survey about the organicness of farms

Council for Biotechnology Information

Amish grow genetically modified tobacco and potatoes.

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'Frankenstein farming' fears | Sunday Herald Sun

CONSUMER groups have warned of

Seeds designed to die from Monsanto

Seeds designed to die from Monsanto What you need to know about terminator technology
The United States Government and GE companies have developed a patented technology "to create sterile seeds by selectively programming the plants DNA to kill its own embryos"

The Man Behind the Cloning Movement

Why is Scott Simplot pushing so hard to clone animals for supermarket shelves? He's following in his father's footsteps.

Could genetically modified crops be killing bees?

Could genetically modified crops be killing bees? John McDonald, Special to The Chronicle Saturday, March 10, 2007

Are GM Crops Killing Bees?

Colorado Beekeepers Stung by Mysteriously Vanishing Colonies

When Bees Disappear, Man Soon Follows- Global Problem with GM Crops?

European Bees Also Taking a Nosedive - Perhaps GM Crops?

Government & Small Farms 

Rural Information Center: Small Farm Funding Resources

The official site of the Rural Information Center

Agriculture/Farmers

Internal Revenue Service & Small Farming Operations

National Animal Identification System

NAIS Main Page

Farming, quietly flourishing

PDF File by Steven Stoll. "Agribusiness managers and their advocates at the United States Department of Agriculture represent the counterfactual point of view: Nothing could be more irrelevant than Amish farming."

China's goods prompt U.S. farmers' cry for help - Business - International Herald Tribune

China's goods prompt U.S. farmers cry for help

NAIS Timetable 

July, 2006-The target date for USDA to issue a proposed rule setting forth the requirements for NAIS premises registration, animal identification, and animal tracking. A limited public comment period will follow publication of the rule.

Fall, 2007-The USDA will publish a final rule to establish the requirements of the mandatory NAIS.

January, 2008-Premises registration and animal identification becomes mandatory.

January, 2009-At some unspecified time after this date animal tracking becomes mandatory, including enforcement of the reporting of all animal movements.

NAIS 

Food control is people control

Mr. Grant Hagan says: "When the Communists took over the Ukraine, the bread basket of Europe, about 70 years ago, they destroyed or stole all food and animals, starving to death 7 million people. Today Zimbabwe, the bread basket of Africa, has had its farms destroyed and is on the verge of starvation. Is our country next?"

What about the horses?

Karen Bergener says "If NAIS is a three-legged stool, the stool now has two or maybe two and a half legs. The only missing leg is requiring horse owners to report movements. If NAIS is implemented for all other species, and all other animals are tracked, and horses are livestock, how long will it be before USDA and state authorities decide horses should not be exempt? Even if horse movements are not tracked, premises registration allows authorities to find and slaughter animals with greater ease, and being required to microchip animals with useless microchips is an affront to the intelligence of farmers and ranchers.

As horse owners, we may have received a short reprieve with the 2006 recommendations, but we are not yet free from NAIS. The only good NAIS for horse owners is no NAIS at all."

Three myths about NAIS

Karen Bergener writes: "You might be interested to learn that a national system with a unique animal ID, unique national ID, premises ID, and computerized databases that all speak to each other, including pulling information from private databases, was designed by the architects of NAIS during the early 1990s-long before the mad cow and bird flu panics."

Assault on small farmers

Justin Sanders writes: "For those of us with horses, mules, and/or oxen the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) means we will lose our right to own animals. After NAIS becomes mandatory your right to raise livestock will leave the category of "God-given right" and move over to the category of "privilege." You will need a federal license to exercise the privilege to farm, granted to you by the United States government. That's not the only license you'll need, because along with losing your right to farm, you'll lose your right to freely sell whatever you raise on your farm."

Untitled Document

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One Farmer's Nightmare- Compliance 

Nathan Griffin

The horror is already beginning, with THREE stories about progressive oppression of farmers by the government. Compliance

Mr. Griffin states: " Consider this: The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was proposed by the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), which is heavily backed by big meat industry businesses and ID tag makers. Isn't it safe to assume that such hasty insistence on the NAIS may have some hidden motive?"

RFID 

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Farm Aid 

Bob Dylan & Tom Petty

Great Stuff on Amazon 

Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach (Down-To-Earth Book)

by Karl Schwenke

Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $16.95

Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It

Amazon Price: $23.10 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $35.00

Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy Of Industrial Agriculture

Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $45.00

The Fatal Harvest Reader

Amazon Price: $17.96 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $24.95

The Pesticide Detox: Towards a More Sustainable Agriculture

by Jules Pretty

Amazon Price: $48.95 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $48.95

How do we save our Farms? 

NAIS will push us off our farms

PDF editorial by Lynn Miller: USDA poised to push us off our farms with NAIS

Draft horse, mule, and oxen power - Rural Heritage online

Rural Heritage is a wonderful resource for those interested in small farming and everything to do with it. An excellent journal.

that was then.

January/February 1993
Amish Farming
A Modern Day ParadoxCraig Kolodge, Farm Advisor, Santa Clara County
Cooperative Extension
"Amish society emphasizes informal learning- through
doin

Amish worry food rules will hurt family businesses

Farm Aid 

Forward Thinking 

Amish Futurists

Blog discusses the Amish adoption of some genetically modified crops.

Mainstream Organic? 

As 'organic' goes mainstream, will standards suffer? | csmonitor.com

Organic foods are popping up everywhere, but confusing labels and corporate influence may spoil the deal.

ABC News: Pet Food Maker to Take Financial Responsibility for Pet Deaths From Poisoning

After Chinese organic milk poisons children, NOW Chineses wheat poisons our pets?

Saving Small Farms 

Saving Small Farmers

Give small farmers and ranchers help to compete with global
agricultural giants; enact farmer-friendly solutions to existing
destructive trade policies.

Living on Earth: December 2, 1994

Amish / Community-Supported Farms / Enviro CD-ROMs

Organic Food News 

Growing and raising organic foods has become far more complicated in recent history. Many Amish farmers have turned to organic farming as a way of receiving a more just income for their work.

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Agricultural News 

Stresses, problems and issues are coming at the small farmers at an unbelievable rate.

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USDA News 

The USDA is flexing its muscle in ways never before seen. Here's all the news about it.

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New RSS: Add Your Own Feed 

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Organic Dairy Farming 

First organic milk producer to launch

Although its primary function is to make milk, Huoshaoying village in Northwest Beijing's Yanqing County is not your average dairy farm.

Amish Farming Game 

Let's get started!

Welcome to the Amish Farming Game! The goal of this game is
"sustainability" as we observe it in the lives of Amish farm.
Your goal is to grow old, prosper, pass your farm on to the
next generation, and keep Holmes County and the Killbuck Watershed beautiful! Can you do it?

Income Streams for an Amish Farm 

Keeping the Farm Together

Religion News Service: Update on Vatican Instruction; the science of Christmas music; Amish puppies

Amish Puppies

Honey Bees are Dying

Community Interest 

Unknown

[permaculture] Amish farm in Tennessee needs transplant community to buy and enjoy it (or part of it) Treesa Jane Rogerson permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org Thu, 9 Jan 2003 22:32:53 -0800 Previous message: [permaculture] Apricot trees Next message: [permaculture] Farmers demand GE crop poll Messages

that was then.

January/February 1993
Amish Farming
A Modern Day ParadoxCraig Kolodge, Farm Advisor, Santa Clara County
Cooperative Extension
"Amish society emphasizes informal learning- through
doin

The ethics of sustainable agricultural intensification

Agriculture will need to be further intensified in order to meet a growing world population’s demands for food and agricultural products. Yet intensification in itself, if not properly managed, carries the risk of degrading natural resources and leading to decreased food security. It can also have i

‘Our food is killing us,’ Catholic farmer, rural life conference speaker says - Catholic Online

Corporate Food production is exploitative, harms the environment, and generates unhealthy food.

Antique Farming Things 

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Heirloom Seeds 

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