Dan Drougas began farming his 150 acres of South Gippsland twelve years ago. It’s a long way from Epirus, and the farm near Ioannina where his father spent half a life-time growing potatoes.
“We come from a village called Christovitsa. My folks came out in ’63,” says Drougas, who was born in Greece, and whose philosophy for farming and is entwined with his family’s migrant experience. I’ve caught up with Farmer Dan on one of his visits to Melbourne, lending a hand to two of his five grown-up children who are renovating a house.
Being back in the city always reminds Dan of the important things in life. “You see people angry about driving on a road. I think ‘jeez you’re lucky to be alive and healthy enough to work.’ People have forgotten the basics.”
Dan’s convinced that many of society’s problems today, in terms of health and well-being, lead back to a disconnection between consumers and what they eat. “People don’t know where their food comes from. Kids aren’t taught about this. They’ve lost the connection. I always say to people ‘you can’t eat a flat-screen TV. Think about where your food comes from and teach your kids, give them a little plot in the back-yard, and just grow something.’ ”
Dan grew up in Richmond with his mum and dad and two sisters. “My parents rented with relatives, so there were three families in the house.”
Does he remember the food of his childhood? “We were poor. You ate a lot of offal, they used to give it away. I had my own chook pen, and people said ‘ he’s going to be farmer.’ We went to Greek school, were taught to dance, spoke Greek at home, the whole thing, and I’ve carried that on with my kids. My mum still makes the best pitas.”
After high school, Dan’s interest in farming deepened, much to his father’s dismay. “He always steered me away from what he saw as the hardship he experienced in Greece. He didn’t want his son to experience the same. But it’s different in Australia. It’s still a country of opportunity, if you’re prepared to work hard, you can make a go of it – no matter what anyone says.”
Dan went on to study at the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture, worked for the Victorian Government’s Department of Agriculture for a dozen years, before buying his own fertile pastures beside the Jack river in South Gippsland. “It’s idyllic,” says Dan, who runs the farm with his wife Catherine who he married aged 19. “We run about 80-100 cows for calving, and carry some rare english breeds of sheep and pigs.” What is it that makes the meat Dan produces and sells online and at farmers markets, really different? “We raise our cattle naturally and give them best quality of life possible.
They’re born and raised on our farm with care and kindness, without the use of Hormonal Growth Promotants (HGPs) and antibiotics. Our cattle are fed a diet that is 100 per cent plant based. We refuse to feed them pellets and grains.” Surely this caring, less-intensive farming process means that Dan’s hand-reared products are going to be more expensive compared to what’s on offer generally? “We have some of the best prices for free range grass fed beef and lamb around. The products we sell are a similar to what is on offer at the most expensive butchers in Melbourne. It is unfortunate that some families can still not afford to buy meat because prices at the supermarket are exorbitant. There’s a lot of price-gouging going on. I’m able to source meat and other products at very competitive prices and supply direct.”
Today Dan has customer base of around 400 regular buyers, and it’s growing rapidly. ” They can taste the difference and the word’s spreading. Since we started the online shop six years ago business has increased dramatically. Every year our sales are doubling.” There’s an honesty of approach to business by Dan Drougas, no doubt a product of growing up in modest circumstances, where every family meal was cherished, where a knowledge of food and the care and effort to bring it to the table, was a vital part of life itself. It’s a business model that is often lost in today’s retail world where maximising profits is the norm.” I go to some farmers markets where people are selling for $58 a kilo the same product that I charge $32 for, says Dan. “We don’t all have money. Everyone should have the right to eat a good quality product at a reasonable price.”
Farmer Dan’s free range beef, lamb and pork is available online at www.thefarmersmarket.com.au