The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

klGit'iisidrt -irriljjriGiirarG"c'd,-iUiieiri iii, 'iiuiiiiiciorrii/iiri'iruiritu'iiifeiftiii; _ Amish. Had it not been for their religious sta- are unchanging people trying to live in a , tus, they would have been forced to comply changing society and their current methods long ago. Also, the milk they sell, falls far be- are a threat to the rights of the consumer, as _ LII} - : . _, -- I . E a V 'PL.<,./ j - ( =5 77 The end of an era this week with the discontinuing of sending milk in cans. It was back in the 1870's that the factories in this area: Maple Grove, Avonbank and Black Creek were built. Milk was taken to the factories by wagons drawn by horses in 40 gallon cans, then 30 gallon cans, 15 gallons, later in 10 gallons and now at the last 8 gallon cans have been used and anyone having these different sizes will be in the antique business. Fraser Gibb remembers when they had a glass near the bottom of a ten gallon can with a tap at the bottom and after letting the milk stand for a period of time the skim milk was let run out the tap at the bottom of the can till the cream could be seen through the glass, then the tap turned off and the cream was then emptied into a container. He also remembers at Maple Grove Factory a large pen of pigs would be kept beside the factory and all excess whey or skim milk would be piped over and fed to the pigs. In the past, and until Oct. 31, the only group exempt from these regulations, as well as the resulting cost and inconvenience, has been the Amish. Had it not been for their religious sta- tus, they would have been forced to comply long ago. Also, the milk they sell, falls far be- Through regulation by the OMMB, the ma- jority of dairy farmers are subject to pheno- menal expense in the form of milking ma- chines, handling equipment and on-farm bulk storage and cooling. True, these modern de- vices aid in the speed and efficiency in han- dling of the milk, but the primary intent of the OMMB is to minimize the introduction of bac- teria and other contaminants into the product. Also, dairy farmers are compelled to comply with strict standards regarding the cleanliness and sanitary conditions of the milking parlor floor, walls and ceiling as well as the liberal use of disinfectants and hot water. All of this at the cost of the operator. However, the circumstances which have led to the Amish moving back to the U.S. are not a result of the Ontario Milk Marketing Board's (OMMB) indifference to their right to farm and market their produce as they see fit. The situation has, in fact, arisen out of the OMMB's concern for the rights of the thou- sands of bona fide dairy farmers, as well as the rights and demands of the consuming pub- lic. Sir: I am a farmer from the Mt. Elgin area who lives and works beside the Amish people. Like yourself and the majority of your readers I think it is a shame that such an honest, hard.. working group of citizens should feel they must pull up stakes and move back to the Un- ited States whence they came to pursue their religion and lifestyle. Their plight seems to be in direct contrast to the "land of the free" vi- sion we all prefer to think of Canada. Amish issue Nicol Hotson remembers stir- ring milk with extra long handled ladle and in 1926 there was a 50th anniversary of Avonbank Cheese and Butter factory and Nicol's father the late Alex Hots0n was the only I have nothing but the highest regard and admiration for the Amish. Their way of life could be a lesson for us all. Unfortunately they are unchanging people trying to live in a changing society and their current methods are a threat to the rights of the consumer, as One final point is that the consuming public demands the OMMB as well as all other mar- keting boards provide for us a commodity of highest attainable quality. Should they a low any facet of the industry to produce an unsafe product, the OMMB would be violating the rights of hundreds of thousands of consumers in Southwestern Ontario to a safe, wholesome product, not to mention the rights of thousands of dairy farmers who are forced to cover up for the unsafe production techniques of the Amish dairy farmer. The idea that the Amish maintain a co-oper- alive bulk storage and cooling tank would make no improvement whatsoever over the manner in which their milk is presently being handled. In both cases the cow would be milked by hand into an uncovered pail. The pail is carried to and dumped into the milk can which is capped and placed in water (their on- ly method of cooling) until pick-up. After an uncertain period of time the milk would then be transported to a bulk cooler either by a horse-drawn cart or an unrefrigerated truck. The only difference between the two cases lies in the ownership of the bulk tank cooler (ei- ther Amish cooperative or milk processor) and possibly, however unlikely, the duration in which the milk is left in the can on the farm. low the quality and health standards typical of that which is produced by the modern dairy farmer. Still Amish receive the same price for - ' i --A 15,4 ”mt "trs laflllcl. Dun nun-J:- ...~v. . - “H __ . their milk. Surely people do not feel that the bona fide dairy farmer should continue to cov- er up, at their great expense, the lower pro- duction standards of the Amish farmer? Zorra Tp. appoints new clerk-treasurer INGERSOLL - Wayne Johnson, Norwich Township deputy clerk, has been named clerk-treasurer for Zorra Township, it was announced Tuesday. Johnson, 44, cltrk-tpeasurer for the for- mer township of East Oxford for 3% years, and Norwich Township deputy clerk since Jan. l, 1975, replaces retiring clerk Gordon Gregory on Dec. 1. Gregory, 65, has been Zorra Township clerk-treasurer for about three years. Before Oxford County was restructed in 1975, he held the same position in the for.. mer township of East Nissouri for 15 years. .21 [a w» surviving director that had from the road by cart every day organized the factory back in after dinner rain or shine. 1876. My father Bert Matthison remembers while working for So a.e.we see the huge bulk the late Willie Bell would bring tank milk truck pulling up to the in the 30 gallon cans of whey milk house to empty the farm #77 well as other producers. The "put up or get . out" approach may seem rather harsh but I still must commend the OMMB for its unpopu- lar stance for the consuming puhiie's own 530d. Also, 1 condemn Agricultural Minister illiam Newman, for his attempt at acquiring popularity, while at the same time slapping the faces of our province's milk producers. GORD RICHENS London An -accorhriodation must be made in Ontario for the Amish. The rights ot the Amish are far more impor- tant than any petty Ontario Milk Marketing Board rules. If we lose these people, we will lose a part of the beauty of this country - the ability for people of all beliefs to live together. When the government of this province can- not respond to the simple needs of a group of people as good and inspirational (we can learn much from their tolerance and pacifism) as the Amish, then One must seriously question the moral value held by the rulers of Ontario. Mt. Elgin Sir: After reading Erie Bender's articles on the plight of the Amish in Ontario, I was deep- ly saddened. Must respond bulk tank run by hydro, it is a fat cry of the 80 or 100, 150 and 300 lb. cans that had to be rolled or lifted in the 100 years of canhandling in this area. RICK SCHNEIDER