| This thesis examines an Old Order Anabaptist farming system both at present and over the past 30 years. The Old Order Mennonites practice a traditional way of farming with an emphasis on smallness, homogeneity, continuity, and farming as a vocation. These values can be discerned in data at regional, township and local scales.;Temporally, the Old Order Mennonite agricultural system is moving toward the secular systems. However, cultural values continue to assert themselves in the form of a vibrant income-in-kind component and a highly diversified family-oriented mixed farming system.;The distinct farming system of the Old Order Mennonites enables the maintenance of Mennonite rural communities. Through these communities, the culture has influenced the wider cultural landscape. |
