Dateline: August 24, 2005
As you're pouring cornflakes out of a box or listening to your microwavable bacon sputter instead of sizzle, do you ever long for a real breakfast? You know, the kind of hearty morning feast they might serve down on the farm?
You could raise chickens in your backyard and tie a cow to your mailbox. Or you could just sidle into a booth at The Farmer's Diner in Barre, Vermont, and order anything on the breakfast menu.
That's right… anything. Every item on the menu at The Farmer's Diner is made from ingredients produced by Vermont farms located within a 70-mile radius of the diner.
As we drove along Barre's Main Street on a summer Sunday looking for a place to have lunch before heading home from Vermont, the brightly painted diner immediately caught my eye. I was delighted to discover not only that the menu featured local farm products but that breakfast is all the diner serves on Sundays.
Bruce ordered the Vermonter breakfast: two eggs, sausage and toast for $5.25. I opted for an omelet with cheddar, onions and mushrooms, served with home fries and toast ($5.60), and for our little girl, we ordered bacon a la carte ($2.75) plus one pancake with chocolate chips ($2.25).
While we waited, a few quarters in the CD jukebox allowed me to program the perfect soundtrack for our Vermont farm breakfast. As Johnny Cash sang "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and Willie Nelson warbled the familiar strains of "Moonlight in Vermont," I had an opportunity to read up on the local Vermont farms that supply food products to The Farmer's Diner.
The eggs are laid by hens at Shadow Cross Farm in Colchester and Starry Skies Farm in Washington. Sausage, bacon and other breakfast meats are produced at The Farmer's Diner's own smokehouse in South Barre. The cheddar cheese in my omelet came from Cabot. Pancakes are made with local organic flour, and the maple syrup is produced at Sweet Retreat in Northfield. The potatoes used to make home fries were grown at Chappelle's in Williamstown.
Tod Murphy created The Farmer's Diner in 1999 with a goal of demonstrating the viability of a restaurant that buys and serves local foods. The concept, something he hopes to franchise within and beyond Vermont, is predicated on achieving profitability while also protecting the environment and supporting local economies.
My omelet was delicious. With every bite, I asked Bruce, "Does it taste this good because I know where it came from?" He was too busy coaxing our daughter to eat something besides chocolate chips to respond, but as I cleaned my plate, the answer emerged. The fresh, satisfying taste wasn't all in my mind.
As we asked for our check, I finally noticed the slogan on the T-shirts worn by waiters at The Farmer's Diner: "I prefer butter to margarine because I trust cows more than chemists."
The next time you're reading a cereal box and wondering, "What in the world is niacinamide?" or raising your eyebrows at the statement, "Corn used in this product contains traces of soybeans," trust me. Get in your car and drive to Barre, Vermont, for a breakfast that will have you rubbing your tummy instead of scratching your head.
If you're going… The Farmer's Diner is located at 240 North Main Street in Barre, Vermont. Directions are available at The Farmer's Diner Web site. Breakfast is served daily and all day on Sunday. Lunch and dinner are served Monday through Saturday. For hours and other information, call The Farmer's Diner at (802) 476-7623.
