An Honour System of Doing Business - Canadian Mennonites' Way of Life in a Small Ontario Town

A Mennonite's Farm around St. Jacobs area, Ontario

Taking a driving tour of the Mennonite farm

Mennonites came to Canada in the late 1800's settling  mostly in southern Ontario.  They are known for their excellent farming skills.

Though some of the Mennonites, i.e. a group belonging to the Old Order, refuses to follow the modern way of life and are still farming with the horses and plowing method,  many Mennonite farmers have bought huge plots of farmland in the Kitchener/ Waterloo area and are quite efficient in their farming operations.

During our trip to St. Jacobs, the gentleman at the Visitor Centre  gave us directions of where the Mennonite farms were around the area and informed us that we could take a driving tour of the Mennonite farms.

A Mennonite School in St. Jacobs area, Ontario

We did!

Since we were already at the St. Jacobs Village, we kept driving on King Street and made a right turn onto Henry Street, a very small side street which we missed the first time.

A company selling heavy farming machinery and equipment

Once we turned onto Henry Street, we  followed the road until we came to Three Bridges Road.

 We  drove past a school where the Mennonite children receive their education, a convenience store, a big company  selling huge farming machines and equipment.

Mennonite children in their horse drawn carriage in St. Jacobs

The passengers in our car shouted with delight when we passed by  a horse drawn wagon on the road.

The drivers of the wagon looked like two mature adults from the back.

At a closer look, they were in fact, two  Mennonite boys around twelve years old sitting at the front taking the rein while two younger children (around 4 - 6 years old)  at the back enjoying the ride on the road!

The river at Three Bridge Road

A little further on Three Bridges Road,  we came across a river where people were fishing while some were enjoying a picnic on the grass.

A Mennonite Farm in Kitchener/ Waterloo area, Ontario

Animals grazing on the farm

What a typical tranquil farm scenery opened up in front of our eyes!

A Mennonite farm house in Waterloo area

We drove by open fields, huge farmlands green with corns, crops, all different kinds of vegetables, animal and dairy farms with sheep, Holstein cows grazing in the field, dogs guarding at their territories and barking ferociously at cars passing by - a very quiet  peaceful rural scene indeed!



As we were driving and taking in the scenery, we noticed 1-2 picnic tables and sometimes open shelves stocked with food items placed by the roadside in front of some farm houses.

 Curious, we jumped out of our cars in front of a farm house trying to see what was going on.

The Mennonite way of selling - Honour System

On this table,  there were fresh in season farm produces such as blueberries, cucumbers, asparagus etc. 

Items for sale was labelled with  prices on the containers

Besides these items, there were three ice boxes filled  with cold water bottles,  pops, juice drinks, homemade jams and cookies whereas the other two containers had vegetables such as beets, fresh cut flowers etc. in them.


The price for each item was clearly labelled on the containers.

But what surprised us was that there was  nobody manning the tables or  was there anyone close by or in sight trying to sell us these items!

These were the items we wanted to buy

We deposited the proper amount of change into this Money Jar

Customers were supposed to help themselves with the items they wished to buy and then deposit the proper amount in a money jar close by - just an old jar labelled Money Jar with a slit cut on top.

 It was a complete Honour System! There was no one monitoring the sales at all! The Mennonites trust their customers to do the honorable thing - pay for the items honestly.




We bought a bottle of cold water, a can of root beer, and a bag of homemade cookies for $2.00. What a bargain!

We deposited the money in the Money Jar and picked up our food items. Off we went. Simple as that! No one was there to tell us how much each food item cost or made change.




 My friend heard of the Honour System of selling things by Mennonites, but never saw it.
Glad that Betty got to experience it! We saw first hand the Mennonites'  faith and trust in our fellow men.  We have experienced what life is like in a small Ontario town. What an uplifting experience!

Wish there were more people like the Mennonites who have shown faith and trust in humanity !

R.T.
Three Bridges Road Area
St Jacobs, Ontario