The Amish View: What’s In a Meal?
I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a food snob. There’s two reasons for that. 1) I’m a picky eater–stop snickering if you know me personally. 2) My father had cardio-vascular
disease, so I take all that cholesterol talk seriously. Imagine my horror when I sat down at my first Amish meal!
HOWEVER, I realize that the Amish embrace a very active lifestyle, and many of them live to a ripe old age–and arrive there quite healthy. So who am I to judge? Perhaps the lesson is that your diet should match your lifestyle. One thing I think we can agree on–the closer your food is to natural, the better. An apple straight from a tree is a better choice than an apple cinnamon fruit crisp snack bar. And those apple raisin cookies I like from the local coffee shop? I should say no.
Natural is better. The meal I had with my Amish friends included cheeses, sausages and desserts that were very natural. I doubt they’d ever seen the inside of a factory, and you could taste it. The Amish view of food is a bit different than mine, but I believe there’s a bit I could learn from my week in northern Indiana. I might not be able to make my own cheese, but I can plant my own small garden in the spring. In fact, I think I’ll go plan it right now.
V~
Tagged: A Simple Amish Christmas, Amish books, amish fiction, inspirational author
Vannetta Chapman 
They for sure have a different diet. As far as healthy….there are some really unhealthy people among the Amish as well. My mom is a midwife for Amish and their diets include alot of junk food and carbs…
Yes, it sure is tasty! I grew up eating Amish and Mennonite food and when I went to “regular” church potlucks, I wondered why the food was not as good! = )
Martha, thanks so much for pointing this out. You can find unhealthy people in any group! I’m sure you do have some stories to tell from those Amish and Mennonite church dinners. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Vanetta, I’m with you. My father died of heart disease. My cholesterol tends to border a shade above 200 even though I eat very healthy foods. My system creates cholesterol, the medical folks tell me. My other difficulty is digestion. My husband and I both have irritable bowel syndrome so tend to avoid all the spices and most herbs. Sea (earth) salt is our primary flavoring and we partake of no dairy products. Extra virgin olive oil is the only fat you will find in our house. Additionally, we discovered that eating the foods that are right for our blood types greatly improved our digestion and for me, even eliminated rheumatoid arthritis in my thumbs. I’m sure we’d go hungry if we had to choose from a menu of Amish foods. One thing we share in common with them, though, is simplicity. Our foods are–like the Amish people–plain. Oh, well. We’re just glad to be reasonably healthy and enjoying life this side of the sod!:)
Donna Winters
http://www.greatlakesromances.com
Donna, It sounds like you have really learned what works for your body – and isn’t that just the key! You’re right though, plain is better, as in the closer to the natural source the better. Why is it we turn away from an APPLE? There’s a reason for the saying “An apple a day …” : ) Yumm!