I am sitting propped up in my bed, watching the sun start to appear behind the trees. It is a sweet morning. Cool breeze, clear sky, birds singing. I walked outside for a minute; a beautiful, extraordinarily red cardinal greeted me. They say that butterflies and cardinals can be visitors from the other side. Bob? I wouldn’t be surprised. There is a magical feel to this place.
I am in Bluffton, GA, home of Will Harris and family and their White Oak Pastures Farm. I became aware of Will a couple of years ago when my son turned me onto a podcast in which he was interviewed. Will is a fourth generation cattle farmer who turned his conventional cattle ranch into a regenerative farm. I was thrilled when I realized that our route took us near his farm.
Bluffton is a small, really small, town that Will purchased and it is smack dab in the middle of his farm. Their RV park, where we are staying, is across Highway 27 from the town. Yesterday morning, we crossed 27 on foot and made our way to the country store and restaurant, the hub of activities for tourists. We signed up for a tour and poked around the store waiting for the tour to begin. We saw t-shirts, candles and soap made from the tallow of the cows they slaughtered, all sorts of frozen cuts of beef, completely grass-fed, regeneratively organically grown vegetables grown in their gardens, chew toys for dogs made from the parts of the cow they don’t use for anything else. They use everything. The staff was so friendly, Southern hospitality, yes ma’ams, smiles and whatever you need.
The tour guide showed us the little town on foot and took us to a small educational center where we watched videos and heard his stories about White Oak and Will, the family history, the town of Bluffton, the operation, including videos in the slaughterhouse.
So here’s the deal. Since I was young I’ve had a love hate relationship with eating meat. I love the way it tastes, but I just never have loved the idea of eating animals. At this farm, they really like eating meat, but they love and care for the animals, and are with them from the beginning to the end. They slaughter them on site in the most humane way possible.
This is a story that feels hard to tell adequately, but I have to tell you, this man Will Harris has seriously wormed his way into my heart. I was impressed with him when I first heard the podcast, and was determined to see the farm someday.
The thing that’s so amazing about this story is that Will was running his cattle farm the way his daddy was, the industrial model which had become prevalent during his dad’s era. But suddenly something shifted for him and he saw the harm this approach was causing to the land, and saw the way the animals were suffering. He just couldn’t do it anymore. It took an amazing amount of courage and ability to take risk, to transition to a regenerative farm. I am not even going to attempt to describe what that means, as if you are interested you can read about it on his website, and in articles and listen to the podcast I listened to. Truly amazing.
But here’s the thing that really inspires me. Will trusts his own damn self. He has courage seeping out of his pores. He knows what he has to do, and does it. He is principled, but not necessary nice. He’s straight forward. He says it like it is, not afraid to say what he needs to say.
I bought his book entitled “A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations and the Future of Food” and love it. He describes himself this way: “I’m not a Republican or a Democrat. I’m a Second Amendment guy who’s a fiscal conservative; I’m also a screaming environmentalist with a gay daughter. One of my highest values is gumption- a word that I’ve come to learn, not many people know how to use today.” He feels to me like the kind of leader we need to be looking to these days.
I saw him in the restaurant on the farm and felt like a schoolgirl seeing a rock star. I quickly bought his book and ran up to him. He signed it. He was quiet, no nonsense, kind. He was grateful that I visited his farm.
I cried several times during the day knowing that Bob would have LOVED this farm visit. Would have LOVED Will. It’s really hard that he’s gone at times like this.
One Response
Hi Alisa. Thank you for sharing your amazing journey, including your feelings, with all the ups and downs! You are doing it. You are so brave. One foot in front of the other.