ANGASTON’S Hutton Vale Farm is a Barossa icon, known for its award-winning wine and luxury accommodation.
But operations manager Caitlin Angas said the farm’s approach to ‘growing local’ and feeding locals was part of something bigger – the slow food movement.
Behind its accolades, Hutton Vale’s team members are primary producers who pride themselves on feeding guests and providing local restaurants with produce from their land to reduce food mileage.
Hutton Vale is a family operation spanning seven generations, and was established in 1843, with its approach to mixed farming a key role in its success.
In those days, the primary producers would keep ostriches for leather and feathers, as well as tobacco plants.
Today, you will still find established fruit trees well over 120 years old.
“It comes back to being self-sufficient, because they didn’t have the supermarkets (in those days),” Ms Angas said.
Nowadays, the farm is still brimming with seasonal produce, which when preserved is the key ingredient to its award-winning chutneys.
“As soon as there’s a surplus of anything that we grow, we preserve it to enjoy throughout the year,” Ms Angas said.
The garden is loaded, and we do love that, and to have the kids out there eating more snow peas than they know what to do with, that’s a pretty simple pleasure”
Paddocks of sheep are nestled in rolling hills, and are a permanent fixture of the land for the farm’s wool and lamb production.
The farm sells its prime lamb cuts to local Barossa restaurants and they are often in high demand.
“We’re pretty lucky as a primary producer to have a waiting list,” said Ms Angas.
Ms Angas said she even had requests for meat to be shipped to the east coast of Australia.
“I reluctantly say no, because there’s farmers over there that could have that opportunity, and also we’re hitting food miles – and I don’t want to do that,” she said.
Other livestock is maintained on site, depending on the demand.
“We’ve got a couple of pigs on the go at the moment because we want to have bacon we can give to our guests when they’re here – it’s stress-free, it’s had a good life, and we can enjoy the quality of it.” Ms Angas said.
Hutton Vale “rarely” says no to new endeavours.
The team even produced ducks at the request of a local chef, despite an 18-month wait.
“There really is no greater joy than being able to produce your own food and provide for family and friends, so that’s something we want to keep doing,” Ms Angas said.
That full circle is important to us, and if we can produce it ourselves… why not? Keep those food miles low and the quality goes up.”
The full circle is a concept that is integral to the slow food movement, something that Hutton Vale has embraced for generations.
But Ms Angas said the concept goes further than just having food to eat.
The movement is an opportunity to educate locals, guests, and even future generations.
“With kids that are primary school age, I see how disconnected they are from the world, and not realising where their food is coming from,” Ms Angas said.
“That doesn’t weigh up for me. I want them to understand where it’s from and what it’s taken to produce something so they have respect for the producers.
“(That can be done) by educating people and having the understanding that it is quality over quantity and that the enjoyment and satisfaction is well worth the shift of mindset.
The slow food movement I really want people to start embracing. It is hard, because we are creatures of comfort and convenience, but hopefully the rewards are worth chasing”.
Even amid the tribulations of the Covid pandemic, Ms Angas has taken the crisis as an educational opportunity.
“I think Covid has been a really good reset for people to understand the importance of being able to have the food you want when you want… and just understanding the importance of nutrition” she said.
“The ability to cook something from scratch adds another element of connection to the people you are sharing that with, and that’s something that can’t be bought.”
