Locals Barter For Beer With Food

Locals at a village pub in Norfolk are beating the credit crunch by bartering home-grown produce for pints. The Pigs public house, in Edgefield, near Holt, encourages drinkers to contribute to its traditional food menu in return for free alcohol.

A sign placed inside the pub reads: "If you grow, breed, shoot or steal anything that may look at home on our menu, bring it in and let's do a deal."  Fresh fruit, fish, meat and vegetables have been traded for pints. Meals or vouchers have also been exchanged for produce, depending on its size, quantity and quality. Manager Cloe Wasey, 24, said the offer has been a success as people have started to feel the credit crunch. Pints have been exchanged for a kilo of potatoes, three whole mackerel and a kilo of fresh fruit. Locally shot rabbits, pheasants and pigeons have also been exchanged for beer.

Miss Wasey said: "We've been doing it for almost two years now but the success of it has only just recently started to boom with the credit crunch setting in. " People need to find different ways to go out and this helps. "It's also great for us because we get produce at a good price, although we have high standards so the food we get in has to meet those. "We find the home grown stuff is often much better than what we can get from the suppliers. "When we get the good stuff, and it gets on to the specials board, it's brilliant. "Someone will say 'that rabbit tasted great' and we say 'here, meet the person who shot it'. "It's also a challenge for the chef to make the most of the ingredients."

Driver Derek Feast, 64, a regular in the pub, recently swapped some of the free range chicken eggs that he breeds, for a pint. "I have a job where I earn the national minimum wage so this little bit of extra money helps me get out," he said. "The odd penny here and there really helps." Miss Wasey runs the pub with her business partner Tim Abbott, 24, who is head chef.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7560246.stm