eating neighborly 151With the Farmers Diner Smokehouse and the diner itself both doing half
a million dollars in business annually, they can create a market for 1,500
hogs per year. That’s just about how many it takes to keep a processing
plant running. A nearby bakery stays busy making their burger buns and
bread. The stonecutting jobs have all gone to China, but Tod taps every
channel he can think of to make sure it’s Vermont farmers’ hogs, grain,
potatoes, and eggs that end up on the white porcelain plates of his diner.
His unusual take on the ordinary has recently made the place world-
famous, at least among those who pay attention to food economies. Here
in town, though, it’s just the diner. The average customer comes in for the
atmosphere and the food: the NASCAR crowd, or elderly Italians and
Ukranians from a nearby retirement home. The old folks love the Chiog-
gia beets and greens, farmstead fare that reminds them of home. Some of
his customers also enthusiastically support the idea of keeping local busi-
nesses in business. But whether they care or not, they’ll keep coming back
for the food.
How is local defined, in this case? “An hour’s drive,” Tod said. Their
longest delivery run is seventy miles. Maintaining a year- round supply of
beef, pork, chicken, and turkey from nearby farms is relatively simple,
because it’s frozen. Local eggs, milk, ice cream, and cheese are also avail-
able all year, as are vegetal foods that store well, such as potatoes, beets,
carrots, onions, sauerkraut, and maple syrup. The granola is made in
Montpelier, the spaghetti and ravioli right here in town. Fresh vegetables
are a challenge. The menu doesn’t change much seasonally, but ingredi-
ents do; there’s less green stuff on the plate when the ground outside is
white. The beer is locally brewed except for Bud and Bud Light, which,
according to Tod, “you’ve gotta have. We’re not selling to purists.” Obvi-
ously, at a diner you’ve also gotta have coffee, and it’s fair- trade organic.
The Farmers Diner does not present itself as a classroom, a church
service, or a political rally. For many regional farmers it’s a living, and for
everybody else it’s a place to eat. Tod feels that the agenda here tran-
scends politics, in the sense of Republican or Democrat. “It’s oligarchy vs.
non-oligarchy,” Tod says—David vs. Goliath, in other words. Tom Jeffer-
son against King George. It’s people trying to keep work and homes to-
gether, versus conglomerates that scoop up a customer’s money and move