Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I tuned in today. I like it but really feel sorry for the Amish boys and girls. I also wonder why there was only one Mennonite, not enough novelty factor as the Amish? I see Mennonites at Target and the craft store weekly (there is a farming community outside of town and I see them on that side of town frequently)...Besides one article in the paper I know nothing of their religion...

I used to live in a small mixed community of about 80% amish & 20% farmers in Oklahoma. It was...interesting. We had both Amish and Mennonites in the area, the Amish and their horse drawn carriages and the Mennonites had cars (or were getting rides from other folks that had cars). Apparently one day while my dad was walking our dog she barked at a horse and it over turned the carriage, everyone was ok except for a broken window and the Amish man was very nice about it. They also make amazing pie, certainly not vegan though...now im wondering if there are any even vegetarian amish...off to google

I thought the same thing too...

Why do I find shows about the Amish so fascinating? There's that other one about the ex-Amish community somewhere which I also watch. I like this one better so far because people actually speak German to each other so it feels much more "insider."

The other weird thing is I had no idea that Amish and Mennonite people adopted children so regularly. Lots of super traditional religions are anti-adoption.

My mother once saw a group of Amish people at Walmart with their cart full of canned cherry pie filling. These same people sold pie at local farmer's markets. My mother (who always bakes everything from scratch) was appalled.

Ya, I was surprised at this too. Also that one of them had a wad of cash!

some of them do that with canned peaches too. (so not only is it more expensive, but it's doubly processed.)

I am Mennonite, and here in Germany (but in most parts of the US, too) Mennonites are just regular people. We drive cars, surf the net (obvs.) and so on. We tend to forget th Old Order Mennonites who really only share the name with us!

(So, Breaking Amish is a TV show?)

Yes, it is a TV show. Here in (my city at least) Mennonite's do not really interact with people outside their community besides shopping in stores, their children are home schooled and are really religious. I am not sure if Mennonites differ depending on country. The Mennonite girl on TV refereed to non-Mennonites as 'normal' people.

booo :-(

I also found this about horse abuse and puppy mills in amish communities

http://amishamerica.com/the-abuse-issue/

There are plenty of Mennonites in the US who also drive jars, wear jeans, interact with lots of different people, etc. I wish Karla/procrastinatingcook were here to explain, she's Mennonite!

There are plenty of Mennonites in the US who also drive jars, wear jeans, interact with lots of different people, etc. I wish Karla/procrastinatingcook were here to explain, she's Mennonite![/quote]


Ya, I know they drive cars and shop at Target. I have only seen Menonite women with the dresses and hair covers, the men all wear jeans. When I said interact - maybe on more personal level is what I should have said. I see Mennonite women fabric shopping together all the time, however it is always the women with the dresses and hair covers. Unlike say if I was out shopping and called a Catholic friend to join me...I do not just hang out with agnostic folks...

I do not want to sound rude, I am just typing from my own observations. I am curios about Amish and the Mennonites though!



Ya, the puppy mill thing - forgot about that. I believe that documentary "Madonna of the Mills" had rescues from the Amish community...the way the dogs were kept were like farmed rabbits at one house.

My boyfriend and I were discussing if veganisim would fly in the Amish community last night, I honestly think it would be taboo. However the whole pie filling thing is odd...Also they shop at Walmart? Again I just see the Amish bartering and shopping at odd farmer's markets, I know, bad me...But wouldn't shopping at Walmart with electricity and all that jazz be seen as bad?

That's because you can't tell the other Mennonites apart from non-Mennonites so you don't know when you see them. Like if you saw my friend/PPKer Karla around you would be like, that's a hipster girl wearing cute shoes and cutoffs who works at a vegan restaurant, not, that's a Mennonite.

See I was under the impression to be Mennonite you had to wear the get-up...

{edit to add} I guess it is a conservative branch that wears the head covering? I looked up some info and did not find much...

My horse lives on a farm in a heavily Amish part of the country and the Amish neighbours come over to use the phone. It's how they conduct business with the "outside" world. They also come over to fix stuff and use power tools to do so. From what I understand from talking to them, it's okay to use modern technology/electricity as long as somebody else owns it/the end product is for someone else. Not sure if this is just the Amish people I interact with, but that's how it is over there.

On the show they have a out house type phone they use....

SRock, is your friend still a practicing Mennonite though?

Yes! She's also a PPKer!

From Wikipedia: "Traditionally, very modest dress was expected, particularly in conservative Mennonite circles. However, as the Mennonite population became urbanized and more integrated into the wider culture, this visible difference has disappeared outside of conservative Mennonite groups."

Huh, interesting. I find it quite fascinating. I was under the impression that most do wear the long skirts etc and live very simply, but what do I know. I am enjoying the show thus far.

I think a lot of people are under that impression, but it's definitely false. Also whenever I tell people I was raised Quaker people think that's the same thing as Amish too, so I'm sensitive about it.

So I went to look for books on women in religion - inspired by this thread, found nothing but text books...:/

Sounds like the leech attitude that a number of "anti-capitalist" traveler kids have..."hey, Im not contributing to the system..."

I heard that some communities get a special breaks from the phone company... not sure if its true but in the town I used to live in the closest amish house had a pay phone just outside their property line and it only cost a dime and this was back when normal prices were 25 or 35 cents for local calls

Just came across this thing about the Amish. You all might find it interesting.