Side Dishes: Convenience Store Goes for Local Eats
The general store at Morristown Corners has always sold lottery tickets, cigarettes and “the coldest beer in town.” But its new incarnation, the Green Top Market, features a few surprises, too: as many local products as possible, including local meat, Vermont cheeses from Lazy Lady [1] and Jasper Hill [2] and microbrews. There will be a selection of seasonal produce, too, and baked goods ranging from bagels to whole-wheat loaves.
“I’ve been farming for all of my adult life,” says Chris Padulo, who owns Green Top farm in Morristown with his wife Shelby and has a degree in dairy farm management from Vermont Technical College [3]. With his father, Padulo purchased and renovated the run-down 1500-square-foot store.
It’ll be a steady market for the grass-fed, antibiotic-free meat from Padulo’s own farm. But “there’s no way we could supply all of what’s needed,” he says. Accomplished butcher George Eisenhardt, whose father once owned an area slaughterhouse, will do his best to meat — er, meet — customers’ needs. “He’s working on sausage recipes right now,” Pedulo says.
Got a busy day of hunting planned for Saturday? You can still attend the grand opening celebration. The market opens at 4 a.m. with a lamb ’n’ egg breakfast.
Links:
[1] http://www.vtcheese.com/members/lazylady/lazylady.htm
[2] http://www.jasperhillfarm.com/
[3] http://www.vtc.edu/section_academic_programs/dairy_management/