Roseann M.
Yelp
This is an odd little place. First, it's called "Amish Healthy Foods." The name alone is what got me to stop in after I saw the storefront while driving down Western Avenue. I wasn't aware that the Amish people have a particularly healthy diet; they eat a lot of fat, carbohydrates, and animal proteins. But, of course, the name of the store is supposed to imply that the food is produced by Amish people, and that the food is healthy.
A very nice Ukrainian lady was working in the store when I stopped in. First, she asked if I'd ever been in the store before. When I said no, she said first-timers get an automatic 15% discount. Then she asked if I would like a cheese sample. Wow! Discount and free food? Yeah, sure!
By this time, another customer had come in the store. The clerk cut us both slices of 3 different cheeses that were stored in the large walk-in refrigerator at the back of the store. I ended up buying some of the yogurt cheese, and it is delicious. I forget what the 2nd one was, but it was good, too. I wasn't crazy about the 3rd one, a dill cheese, but that was only because I don't like dill. If you like dill, you'll probably like this cheese.
There are jams, jellies, meats, snacks, and lots and lots of cheese There were a couple jams, including a gooseberry jam, available for sampling, and that tasted good, too. I ended up buying a bag of Honey Mustard & Onion Sourdough Pretzel Pieces. It is good. It cost $6.76 a pound.
The thing that really bothered me, though, and the reason I don't rate this store with a 4th star, is something the clerk said to the other customer. The other customer asked her, what's the difference between "natural" and "organic?" The clerk said, there really isn't any difference. OOOPS!! There is a huge difference between natural and organic. Organic foods have to meet strict USDA standards to be called organic. There are absolutely no standards for calling a food product "natural." I could wrap up my poop in a baggie and put it up for sale as a "natural" product and be fully within legal standards. But it wouldn't meet the standard of organic.
The clerk's statement made me wonder if anything in this store really is organic. If a product doesn't meet the high standards of truly "organic" meat, cheese, jams, or pretzels, then the customer is paying some awful big prices for something you could get at Aldi for a whole lot less $$. Until the owners of this store can certify, 100%, that their products meet the "organic" standards, buyers should beware.