We got a little bit of a break today. We don’t have too many orders and not too much else to do. The gutters are overflowing though and they will need to be cleaned. Albert and family went into town to go to a health food store. I have some free time to write and maybe call my family. It seems by nature, the Amish are innocent. They know about their professions and how to work hard and they haven’t had enough contact with the outside world to grow suspicious. Albert confirms this. They are always a little suspicious of the English though. There is this subculture of Amish people in Pa. and probably other parts of the world who are pretty strict followers of Sally Fallon. They cook from her cookbook, get the Wise Traditions magazine, sell Nourishing Traditions and The Untold Story of Milk, at their farm stands, sell products and foods from Nourishing Traditions and base most of their dietary choices on what she and the Weston Price Foundation says. Most of them have seen amazing health benefits from it for themselves and from their customers. That keeps them going and makes them feel what they are doing is right. With all of this good information and food, some bad information and food sneaks in. Some of the farmers have been using and selling Adulterated Aloe Vera Gel. They have been getting it from someone named Mark. Albert and some other Amish believe it’s really good for them. This brand that they are using is pretty bad. It has artificial flavors, sugar, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, etc. It’s pretty gross. On the bottle is says “150% Aloe Vera” and it has a bunch of pseudo-science with big words on the back. I wish they didn’t use it, and I don’t really want to tell them not to yet. They are already doing so many good things and their heads are already swimming with so much info anyways. I don’t want to add on it. There is a big possibility for these people to be taken advantage of. I had to help pick 80 dozen eggs in the hen house again this morning. God I hate that place. It’s allergy city. There is a yin and yang balance of milk and poop in dairying. Milk is good and poop is good, but they are not good together. It’s a delicate art to keep them away from each other, you want milk to drink and sell and you want manure for fertilizer. These cows have so much poop on their udders. I try to get it all off but sometimes I can’t. I wonder if people would still drink milk if they knew what the udders look like. Sally Fallon knows many of these farmers personally and has gained a lot of their trust. I hope she doesn’t abuse this trust. I’m reading a copy of Wise Traditions and there is a cartoon about a guy who is drinking ultra-pasteurized milk. His daughter warns him not to, but he does it anyway. He starts throwing up in the toilet and when he lifts his head out, it’s a skull. It’s basically a propaganda cartoon, even though it may be true, it’s still propaganda. I don’t like propaganda and I don’t like science. It’s funny for me to see people who constantly tell me to beware of some science because it is false but then try to convert me with other science. “Ignore this research, but believe this one!” They don’t really address this issue and I think it just confuses people. I wish someone would come along and tell people that they should experiment with themselves instead of believing in research. Just seeing what traditional people ate and then trying it on myself has worked better for me than any science theory. Science is b.s..
My room is a little bit warmer tonight; at least I am not seeing my breath. Marie said I might be able to sleep in the girl’s room downstairs since it is getting colder, they can sleep on the couch. Albert and Marie are amazing people. The whole family is. We all really bonded tonight, after the milking of the cows. We were talking about everything, from food, society to Sally. He really knows a lot. He cares deeply about people and about what is going on in the world. I was talking about how TV and commercials can brainwash people and make them eat unhealthy. He said the same thing is happening now with the Amish and a lot of them have lost their way. He said that the Amish are a step behind the English regarding health and that they are starting to see more disabilities in children like deafness. He says that a lot of it is because more Amish are buying things at stores instead of making it themselves. His Grandfather’s father may have made butter he said, but then it just gradually faded out. He said a lot of Amish are concerned about “cheap, cheap, cheap” and about saving their farms1. He likes to use hands and arms when he is talking. He’ll also put his hands in prayer position a lot; I like that. He has big hands. So many people know about Grass Fed Farms. Sally Fallon recommends them a lot of people and lists them in Wise Traditions. Aajonus Vonderplanitz, an all raw diet guy, lists them also. We were joking about Aajonus and how Albert always knows who his clients are because they are emphatic about everything having no salt. Aajonus also recommends eating rotten eggs2 and sometimes feces. Marie thought that was gross and said she would never try it. I’ve eaten raw liver before so I said I would give it a try. Albert said he would too. We all laughed. Albert said he didn’t know where he’d be without Sally Fallon. He said that he’d probably be just another guy. Sally is really doing a lot for people. She’s only had her book out for about five years and she already is huge. There are over a hundred chapters of the Weston Price Foundation, many people including me are doing better with what she recommends, she is helping restore and bring out of debt small family farms, and now she is beginning to bridge the gap between English and Amish, I feel that I am in the middle of a revolution. It was a beautiful night tonight. It was warm, no wind and the cows wandered onto the wrong field. I had to run out on lush cool green grass and track them down. I raced Sparkle. The ground was filled with potholes. It took forever. Peter said that the cows didn’t want to go in since they got a taste of freedom. It took so long; as soon as the cows were about to go in, they would run out and I would have to get them again. I didn’t mind, it felt great. The cows let me pet them for the first time tonight. They must be getting used to me. Lisa spoke to me for the first time today. They must be getting used to me too. She said, “Gooden Mua” (Good Morning). Lucy is still too shy, but smiles at me when I’m not looking. I’m making French toast for them tomorrow morning; I hope it turns out well. I’m marinating the bread overnight in the batter (a secret recipe for all of you foodies out there). For breakfast I had ham, savory French toast and sauerkraut. For lunch I had cream, honey and cinnamon. At dinner I had hamburger and onions, cheese and tomato soup. Lots of butter with everything. I drank a lot of whey tonight. Major craving: I love whey.
1 With most of the Amish being poor, they are always looking for ways to save money. One of the ways they do this is by shopping at discount food stores. These stores sell food which have already expired or have other problems with it i.e. dented cans which makes them cheaper. Albert feels that this is the reason why a lot more Amish are being born with birth defects. However, he is in the minority. Many of them do not feel there is a relationship between this toxic food and poor heath.
2 This may sound crazy, but it is actually a popular remedy in Chinese Medicine, they are called century eggs. They are buried in the ground for several weeks to several months until they rot. It is supposed to be an aphrodisiac!
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