Posted on 05/22/2014 1:34:19 PM PDT by Theoria
Rolling pastures dotted with grazing cows, fields of corn and classic buggies driven by Amish in hats and bonnets — these are the images that attract visitors to Lancaster County, home to more than 30,000 of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Visitors who also bring big money to the state — to the tune of nearly $1.8 billion a year. Which explains why the winning bumper sticker in a contest sponsored by Pennsylvania's Tourism Office didn't feature the Liberty Bell or the battlefield in Gettysburg — but rather, "I Break for Shoofly Pie," an ode to the traditional Amish dessert.
But pictures can be deceiving, and the office of tourism — indeed the entire state — has reason to worry. The Amish, with their emphasis on family, hard work and simplicity, have drawn hordes of tourists but also an influx of residents, malls, roads and housing developments. The upshot? Swaths of farmland have been lost, and many Amish are now choosing to give up farming or are leaving the state to pursue quieter surrounding and cheaper land.
The irony, spelled out in research from Pennsylvania's Kutztown University, couldn't be more blunt: "The commercialization of the Amish lifestyle has grown tremendously in recent decades, so much so that it actually threatens the viability of the very tourism industry it created. ... Stores catering to the tourists now sit on land that was once an Amish farm."
Samuel Lapp, a former Amish farmer who lives near Intercourse, said a farm is "a nice place for boys to grow up," but seeing others get jobs, make money and not have to work seven days a week convinced his sons to take another path.
"My sons didn't want our farm and I'm not going to milk cows by myself," said Lapp.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Ohio passed up Pennsylvania as the state with the most Amish sometime back in the 1990s.
I would think it would be "I Brake for ShooFly Pie", but then, I don't speak Amish...
They should transplant to the desert. There’s a whole bunch of nothing out here and the heat will keep the tourists at bay.
Plenty of good land in eastern Nebraska...
Lots of them in Michigan as well. I even ran into an Amish family fishing in Lake Superior from the breakwater at Grand Marais MI.
I was going to say...come to OHIO! Still lots of rural land here, aside from Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati!
As my late Grandpop Klauser would say, now we’ll see more of the richest farmland in the world turned into subdivisions.
I would think it would be “I Brake for ShooFly Pie”, but then, I don’t speak Amish..”
Actually it could be either. “I Break...” because it is something you eat and you normally take a break from work when you eat. “I Brake..” because you see a sign ahead that tells you about a restaurant that is serving ShooFly Pie and so you want to stop.
If you want to be Amish, you do break for ShooFly Pie, however.
They should come to Alaska. Particularly the Interior region. Lots of room and little government!
Foks, when you get there, let me know.
It’s not easy anymore to find a pleasant, green place where the idiots of the world will leave you alone to live your life in peace.
I’ll probably pack up the van and join you.
Now that Pennsylvania’s Republican governor has given in to Gay Marriage, the Amish have no choice but to leave the state.
You would be surprised how many new settlements there are around the state of Ohio. Southern Ohio is the newest location with new groups in Highland, Ross, Pike, Vinton and Adams counties, as well as Gallia. The church districts are growing rapidly in Logan county too.
Many Amish and Mennonite families here in the Missouri Ozarks.
There is a newer group of transplants from PA in Fountain City IN these days. Rather than adopt the black buggy style used in most of IN they brought their gray buggies with them.
SHHHHHH, then we’ll get those areas built up.
Unless of course prospective buyers are led through fields loaded with invisible chiggers.
actually there is lots of farmland in NYS but then they have Quomo and the leftist machine....
The biggest threat to the Amish in Lancaster, PA is simply the cost of farmland. There is less due to development Amish families are larger than average American families. This has caused farmland to spike in cost and pushed Amish in to the trades. The exodus of Amish to form new communities in other states has been going on for 30 or more years.
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