Amish Dedication to Farming and Adoption of Organic Dairy Systems - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 244

The focus on the possibility of cheating within organics among some of the
Cashton Amish may also be related to the value loss aversion concept in the sense
that it was connected to cheating and a more subtle temptation idea. Although the
farmers who talked about cheating within organics stated that the Amish would not
cheat, they seem to have an idea that the organic system created the temptation to
cheat. This may be because a lot of the compliance is on the honor code in the sense
that there is no real way to know if people are cheating unless it is reported or it is
discovered in a spot check. The temptation to cheat on the organic rules creates a
problematic situation for the Amish in terms of value loss aversion. The uncertainty
involved with the situation is key to the idea of value loss aversion here because the
Amish in this area do not have much direct experience with organic rules and the
impact of having the temptation to potentially cheat could have on the community.
These reactions are counterintuitive in some sense as the organic rules seem similar
to the Amish Ordnung as there are rules about what is right and wrong and there
is not always direct oversight on the individual's behavior (as with organic farming
management). There are temptations associated with not following the Ordnung
rules, and these rules can be only enforced through community.
The diversity about ideas on organic within Cashton also tends to be clustered
along family lines. For example, let's consider the organic Cashton farmer who
was challenged to the bet about the superiority of organic milk described earlier. A
number of the family members of this organic Cashton farmer were also farming
using organic methods. The family descendants of the elder with negative attitudes
towards organics had similar issues with anchoring and extremetization associated
with organic dairy. The importance of family units in adoption decisions may be
especially profound in areas where there are divergent views about organic like in
the Cashton settlement. As one Cashton Amish farmer states, “It is easier if you
grew up with it [ ]”. He had not grown up with it so was intimidated by the

unknowns associated with it. If you grew up doing organic farming, you may be
confident to try it on your own farm and may be more convinced of the potential
benefits.

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12.9 Organic Dairy Adoption Patterns: Hillsboro Settlement

and Households

More Hillsboro Amish practice organic farming than do Cashton Amish and
their views about organic farming choices are less extreme though both wrestle
with balancing distinctive oikonomia objectives and bounded rationality concerns.
Overall, the Hillsboro Amish maintain a more positive view of organic dairy and its
effects on relationships between households. There may have been some ambiguity
aversion early on with respect to organics among a number of the Hillsboro Amish,
but additional information shifted their view towards a positive view of organics.
In this case, the tight social network of the Amish community actually led to more