For a time, it looked like The Farmers Diner — which is currently located in Quechee but planning to expand to Middlebury — would replace Tully & Marie’s on the banks of Otter Creek. But, according to diner owner Tod Murphy, the switch is not to be.

“They decided they actually wanted to stay in business,” Murphy confided last week at the Vermont Statehouse, where he’d been giving testimony to the House Agriculture Committee on the importance of local food systems.

Murphy explained that he’s still planning to bring the cozy localvore eatery to the college town. He just doesn’t know yet where the biz will land.

Long-term plans include a total of four Farmers Diners — one in Chittenden Country — and a commissary kitchen where staffers could efficiently churn out tomato sauce, preserves and soup stock for all of the eateries.

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Former contributor Suzanne Podhaizer is an award-winning food writer (and the first Seven Days food editor) as well as a chef, farmer, and food-systems consultant. She has given talks at the Stone Barns Center for Agriculture's "Poultry School" and its...