FARMERS in the St Arnaud district in Victoria’s eastern Wimmera are the envy of their counterparts elsewhere this year in terms of harvest food choices.
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While most header cabins are littered with sandwich and junk food wrappers that harvesters have washed down with lukewarm cans of energy drinks, one innovative St Arnaud pub is offering growers the chance to feast on crispy skin salmon or pumpkin, kale and truffle risotto all without leaving the paddock.
Owner of the Lamartine Hotel Sam Pritchard said many of her regular farmer customers had farewelled her for a couple of months in the approach to harvest, knowing they were unlikely to have the time off to get in for a meal.
It was the inspiration for the team at the hotel to get creative and find a means to allow harvest workers access to a good meal during the long working day.
“We decided to throw the whole paddock to plate movement on its head and offer plate to paddock.”
This has seen the Lamartine team offer all items on the regular menu takeaway and to top it off, they are also delivering out to the paddocks of the St Arnaud district.
“It is just a small something we hope will help those busy with the harvest period,” Ms Pritchard said.
And she said the farming community was loving the concept.
“We’ve had people stopping by to pick it up from the hotel, we’ve driven out to drop off the food for others, we’ve even had calls from further afield from people who have heard about what we are doing.”
“For us, though, it is pretty simple, happy farmers mean a happy community.”