Daniel Byler started a recent Friday morning by packaging online orders of Camembert, cheddar and other cheeses scheduled for customer pick-up at the local farmers market the following day. But unlike the market’s other vendors, Byler operates his family “micro-dairy” without the internet.
Byler, who is Amish, now also poses a risk to fellow members of his tight-knit Christian community, which is known for eschewing technology and living in separation from mainstream American culture. That’s because he relies on non-Amish customers despite the coronavirus pandemic, including some who recently traveled from New York City to their second homes in Byler’s quiet corner of central New York state.
“I have more contact with outside people day in and day out,” Byler said. “We have actually stopped church services and all social gathering in our community at this point. We are very concerned for what’s happening, but we are also concerned [about] what it’s doing to our traditions.”
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