Our Story
The Farmers Diner. Food From Here.
We're a great diner based on a simple idea: prepare and serve hearty meals with fresh ingredients from area farmers and small-scale producers.
Where did such a simple yet profound idea come from?
An epiphany... In 1999, as the result of a caffeine-induced epiphany, Tod Murphy saw the possibilities that could be created for family farmers
if the local economy of his great-grandmother's day could be combined with the current world of vertical integration, economies of scale and information technology.
The basic premise is one Tod's great-grandmother Ida taught him when he was a wee lad. Prior to World War II, she was able to bring the extra produce of the farm to town with her
every Saturday to sell to local grocers. Today, that simple, secure local 'supply chain' has transmogrified into an international chain dependent upon huge inputs of
petroleum, middlemen,U.S. taxpayer subsidies and expensive marketing campaigns to convince us we need such important items as purple ketchup.
The Farmers Diner is recreating the pre-War supply chain by connecting a web of producers with a central commissary then distributing that food to The Farmers Diner restaurants.
The hope for a restored rural economy resides in companies that make purchases as did companies in his great-grandmother's economy, while reducing costs by the use of
information technologies and values limited economies of scale. So Tod created such a company, The Farmers Diner.
 The Farmers Diner in both Quechee and Middlebury Vermont demonstrate that buying local and regional foods and making them available to the entire community is possible and profitable.
We strive to spend over 75 cents of every food dollar with farmers and small-scale food producers who live and work within 70 miles of the diner. From the success of
this diner, The Farmers Diner will build more diners, first in Vermont and then regionally, to continue the good work of reviving strong rural communities.
Our goal is a national network of Farmers Diner restaurants, serving typical diner food sourced from local area farmers and producers. We expect The Farmers
Diner to be a leader in family/casual dining because local fresh food tastes superior, citizens prefer to support their neighbors and communities, and tasting meals at farmer friendly prices
support the values our nation has always striven to live by.
What is Our Recipe?
Doing Good By Eating Well
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