Raw Animal Products Draw Diet Experimenters to Amish Farms

At an Amish farm in southeastern Pennsylvania, Kelly Pi is exploring an unconventional diet built around animal products and specialty foods. The 30-year-old electrical engineer from the Philadelphia suburbs visits Amos Miller Organic Farm several times a month to purchase meat and dairy that she seeks without hormones, vaccines, corn or soy. During a visit in August, Pi displayed a container of buffalo brain and ate the raw meat in the farm's parking lot.

She normally ate beef brain but was eager to try the buffalo variety, according to Sophie Haigney's report for The New York Times. Pi's shopping also included pounds of beef, yellowish colostrum, three types of raw-milk ice cream and kefir water. Inside the farm's walk-in refrigerator, she reacted enthusiastically to the selection, which included animal parts less commonly found in conventional grocery stores.

While examining the buffalo brain, Pi pointed to a dark fragment in the pink and white tissue and said, "Look, you can see a little bit of the skull!"

The brain moved as Pi lifted it from its container. She then bit into the raw tissue, responding, "Mmmm," before adding, "This is so good." Pi's visits reflect her effort to source foods according to specific production preferences. She drives her Honda Accord from the Philadelphia suburbs to Amish country several times a month to stock up on products she seeks without hormones, vaccines, corn or soy.

Haigney traveled to Tennessee and Pennsylvania over five months and spoke with more than 40 people experimenting with their diets for the report. The account places Pi's food choices within a broader examination of people exploring unconventional approaches to eating. At Amos Miller Organic Farm, Pi quickly filled her shopping cart with a range of meat and dairy products. Her purchases included buffalo brain, which she had specifically wanted to sample after regularly eating beef brain.

The reported visit offers a close look at one person's dietary practices and the specialty foods available at the Pennsylvania farm. The account does not provide clinical evidence about the health effects of Pi's diet or establish that the products she seeks offer particular health benefits.