The Amish Culture

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION2

Thesis statement2

PRIMARY MODE SUBSISTENCE FOR THE AMISH CULTURE2

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY4

Social change4

Kinship5

Beliefs and values5

Gelassenheit6

Farming6

Discipline6

Ethics6

CONCLUSION7

REFERENCES8

The Amish Culture

Introduction

The Amish are the people who appeared in Pennsylvania in the late years of 1730's to flee from hounding and harrying in Europe. The Amish people subsist in a pastoral surrounding like adequate land for farming, rolling hills and country roads. They prefer to stay distant from other cultures hence the availability of resources is bit of a challenge for them for the reason that most of the Amish people grow and cultivate agriculture and arrange for their own resources. The Amish are known mainly for their conventional way of living which was depicted in the “Harrison Ford film Witness” in 1985, in which their peaceful subsistence was hit with the violent crime. The Amish are of the thought that their sacred beliefs and remote lifestyle are the factors that they are chiefly dependant on and cannot be separated from them (Scott, S., 1996).

Thesis statement

The Amish are the people who prefer to sustain a living, remote from the outside world. They have their distinct beliefs, values, customs, traditions, and modes of subsistence to carry, which define their uniqueness and support them to pursue their idea of living distant and isolated.

Primary mode subsistence for the Amish culture

Horticulture is supposed to be the primary mode of subsistence of the Amish culture; the Amish people are usually farmers who cultivate their land and plant different crops on it in different seasons of the year. The Amish also cultivate their grounds and arrange for the resources themselves. They mostly engage in joinery, for cash, and also rear cows to get meat and milk, raise ducks and chickens to get meat and eggs, keep pigs to get red meat, ham and sausage, grow in coppices to get fruit, maintain vast vegetable gardens for the family.

The Amish diet chiefly comprises of crops like beetroots, potatoes, corns, tomatoes, carrots, peas and several other vegetables. The Amish may also like to grow grapevines or fruit trees on their land. The Amish get to eat a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit during the growing and reaping seasons of the year and they preserve adequate supplies for the colder seasons. The Amish also rear their own cattle; most Amish have hens that lay eggs, pigs and chickens that provide meat. The Amish also acquire the standard pre-packaged rations from the markets and stores (Kraybill, Donald B., 1990).

While the whole family is responsible for the entire process of farming and harvesting of yields for obtaining food, however the task of cooking and the preserving of excess supplies, is pinned to the housewives only. The Amish women store and freeze hundreds of containers of vegetables, fruit, and meat every year, as an early preparation for the colder months when the weather conditions make it difficult and uncommon to farm and harvest.

The Amish people are very conscious about their food and sustenance; they care a lot about their health. They hardly have any access to ...