Thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Having Will Harris interviewed on the Joe Rogan Experience and Russell Brand live stream was an incredible opportunity for us to communicate what we have learned about our food production system over the 6 generations that we have operated our family farm. So much of what we want to share with others can’t be simmered down to a sizzle statement or soundbite. For example, take this interview with Will on Fox News with Stuart Varney. It was clear this four-minute quick-fire wasn’t the right opportunity for a 4th generation South Georgian farmer to explain why technocrats owning hundreds of thousands of acres is simply alarming. So, after Will got finished the interview, he filmed this piece to complete his thoughts. We are grateful to both Joe and Russell for giving us the ability to have meaningful conversations that are so relevant and timely.
It’s true, as you heard in these interviews - misapplied technology is specifically what got the food production system into this mess that we find ourselves in, and it’s absolutely not going to provide us the solution that’s going to get us out. Systems focused entirely on efficiency turn their backs on resilience because resilience can’t be easily quantified with dollar signs. And it does not scale up in a manner that offers billions of dollars in profits to multinational corporations. To understand rebuilding a resilient food system, you’ve got to understand the difference between a complicated and complex system, the importance of Nature’s Cycles, and the fact that it’s not all about the damn carbon. Remember the video Joe showed of our rainwater runoff compared to our neighbor’s? How much does it really cost consumers to support products grown in this way?
Regenerative farming at White Oak Pastures is central to everything we do but can be most clearly seen in three areas: animal welfare, land regeneration, and the rural revival of Bluffton, Georgia. This video sums it up perfectly, but if you prefer reading, check out our blog or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
So, if you read this far, you might be wondering how you can support a system that allows livestock to express their instinctive behavior, helps to mitigate climate change, rebuilds healthy soil, and revitalizes the backbone of America. Here’s the answer: know your farmer. Trusting labels and certifications can be dangerous - and building relationships with the people growing your food is the only way that you can really know what you are buying. Our farm can’t feed the world, so if you visit our online store and don’t live in an area that we can serve cost-effectively, please let us know! We want to introduce you to other amazing farms that do incredible work delivering humane, regenerative meats to people who give a damn. Regenerative agriculture is not very scaleable, but it is very replicable.
To support White Oak Pastures, shop for grass-fed beef and lamb, corn and soy-free poultry, and non-GMO pork in our online store. Being a small farm, there’s no way we could have prepared for days following Will’s Joe Rogan appearance. We promise we will restock, and we hope you’ll consider coming back to shop when we’ve been able to catch up. (If you live outside of our ground network, check out our zero-waste products like wildflower honey, homemade jellies, and jams, tallow soap, cowhide leather bags or rawhide pet chews.
Or, if you’re already supporting a local farm - good for you. Keep doing just that, tell them you need them, tell them you want them, and go give them a hug! If you want more farmers raising livestock in this manner, consider donating to our educational non-profit, the Center for Agricultural Resilience. By donating, you are helping us disseminate what we have learned over the past 30 years with other farmers all over the country by sponsoring farmers at our 3-day educational course.
In closing, please come see us. Seriously-we want to see you in rural, charming Bluffton, Georgia (population 102). Being able to share our story with Joe Rogan’s following is a gift, but there’s nothing like seeing it for yourself. Over the last decade, we’ve encouraged visitors to spend the night with us in our cabins, take a tour of our farm, attend one of our educational workshops, shop in our 150-year-old General Store, or eat a farm fresh, home-cooked meal in our restaurant. It would be our pleasure to show you what restarting nature's cycles looks like.
