#160: A Bold Return to Giving a Damn featuring Will Harris

Will Harris owns White Oak Pastures and is a transformative thinker in the world of agriculture. In the 1990s, Will took his father's farming practices and began evolving them toward a input, closed-loop system (often referred to as Regenerative Agriculture today). At the time, Will didn't think much about the changes he was making on the farm. That is not to say no thought was put into the changes he was making, but Will felt that the changes he was making were intuitive as opposed to innovative. His suspicions and struggles on the farm led him to experiment with raising his animals as nature intended: in line with nature. The changes he has seen on his farm since then have been nothing short of amazing. Will has returned nutrients back to the soil and enriched the life on his land by eliminating harmful chemicals, and relying on multi-speciation and systems that support natural dependencies. In 2019, White Oak Pastures partnered with General Mills to create a Life Cycle Analysis of the amount of carbon his farm put back into the soil compared to conventional practices. This is a profound piece of research that contradicts what many people believe about agriculture and its potential impact on climate. In our conversation with Will, we discussed: - How did White Oak Pastures come to be?- Building a legacy on the land- Welfare farming & its effect on our health- A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: Changing Our Culture- Carbon sequestration, the water cycle, and returning life back to the landConnect with Meat Mafia:Instagram - Meat MafiaTwitter - Meat MafiaYouTube - Meat MafiaConnect with Noble Protein:Website - Noble ProteinTwitter - Noble ProteinInstagram - Noble ProteinSPONSORSThe Carnivore Bar - 10% OFF - Delicious & convenient Pemmican BarHoly Cow Beef - Regeneratively raised, grass-fed & grass-finished beef from TexasOptimal Carnivore - 10% OFF - Replace your daily vitamin with on the road, easy nutritionPerennial Pastures - 10% OFF - Regeneratively raised, grass-fed & grass-finished beef from California & MontanaAFFILIATESLMNT - Electrolyte salts to supplement minerals on low-carb dietHeart & Soil - CODE ‘MEATMAFIA10’ for 10% OFF - enhanced nutrition to replace daily vitamins!Carnivore Crisps - 10% OFF - Carnivore / Animal-based snacks for eating healthy on the go!Pluck Seasoning - 10% OFF - Nutrient-dense seasoning with INSANE flavor!Fond Bone Broth - 15% OFF - REAL bone broth with HIGH-QUALITY ingredients! It’s a daily product for us!TIME STAMPS1:04- History of White Oak Pastures5:00- Starting to change agricultural practices7:35- Discovering other farms for inspiration9:25- How do you know you’re making the correct change?21:26- His friendship with Gabe Brown22:50- CFAR: Center for Agricultural Resilience24:20- Future evolutions for White Oak29:30- Building Community in Bluffton36:30- Rail against the empire of Big Ag & Big food38:30- The concentration of power in Agriculture & beyond44:30- Marketing the product50:40- Decline of quality at Whole Foods 53:20- Fix the labeling laws 56:00- Pride in efficiency58:00- Supply chains01:00- Experience through Covid01:04- The carbon argument01:14- Externalized cost & outsourcing01:16- Climate Smart Commodity grant01:20- Perspective on the USDA01:27- Subsidies in agriculture01:32- Growing cow feed: Truly closed systems01:33- Pork & Poultry: Is it as bad as people say?01:40- Baring the cost of Big Ag01:43- Are you encouraged by where we’re heading?01:48- Building a Legacy at White Oak01:51- Taking care of yourself 01:54- What is Will Harris proud of?