You can gain a glimpse into the life of a farmer without quitting your day job and buying a plot of land. Visiting a fully operational farm-for-profit opens your eyes to the realities of the job—the harsh and the beautiful, the rigorous and the peaceful—and it gives you a depth of perspective and appreciation for the people who grow your food.
At White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, the average person can see firsthand how a large-scale farm can flourish while raising animals humanely on pasture and growing vegetables organically.
“I think it’s important for [people] to see it,” said Jodi Harris Benoit, White Oak’s Farm Events Manager. “I appreciate those customers and want our customers who already buy from us to see it, to see where [the animals] are raised. Hell, they can stay right by the chickens. I want them to experience it.”
It’s a place worth seeing for many reasons. It’s the largest organic farm in Georgia, one of the most prominent sustainable and humane animal producers in the country, and the only farm in the nation that has USDA approved abattoirs on the premises to process the animals they raise.
Jodi and her sister Jenni Harris are the daughters of Will Harris and the fifth generation of the Harris clan to run the farm.
A visit to White Oak Pastures begins with delivery to one of a few cabins tucked away on the property. The largest dwelling, the Pond House, was the modest starter home for Will and his wife Yvonne as newlyweds many years past. At that time, it was a simple cinderblock building with little in the way of adornments or décor. Now it’s decked out with rustic interiors and all of the White Oak value-added products you could desire for a very comfortable, yet retreat-focused stay.
In the last year, Jodi Harris has taken on the task of making White Oak an agrotourism destination.
“We didn’t anticipate the tourism thing,” she said, “it just kind of happened.”
The Harrises opened White Oak Pastures up to the public for the sake of admirers and critics alike. It’s a chance for anyone to see ten species of animals living in natural symbiosis, a sight that differs drastically from a large scale, corporatized single-species beef or poultry farm. Any given visitor has access to every aspect of the farm—from baby sheep frolicking through the beautiful fields to the surprisingly sterile, calm and systematic slaughter of a cow.
“I think transparency is the best marketing tool,” said Jodi, while walking us (literally) through each aspect of production on the farm.
And that’s perhaps the most charming aspect of visiting White Oak Pastures. There was not an ounce of pretense from anyone. The Harris family is warm and open, as were the doors to each operation at the farm.
If you’re lucky, Will Harris will crank up his Ford pickup truck and assume the role of tour guide. He personally drove us around the property and laid out the full scope of White Oak Pastures with uninhibited commentary and references to his own colorful family history.
“We’re fiercely proud of what we do,” said Will. It’s one of his signature lines, but that only goes to show that he’s serious. He spent an afternoon pointing out rare Iberian pigs buried deep in puddles of mud, goats roaming the forest and cows freely grazing sloping pastures of fertile ground.
He’s a busy man. He’s a full-time farmer. But he’s on a mission to showcase his success to anyone who will listen. He’s not looking for a pat on the back or more plaques to hang on his already crowded wall of accomplishments—he wants to prove to the world that sustainable, moral farming is not only possible, it’s necessary. Not only that, his business is profitable, even if the majority of revenue goes straight back into his operation that continues to morph and grow.
White Oak Pastures has been in the Harris family for more than 150 years. Passed down through five generations, the farm saw only the hooves of cattle. Today, the property sprawls over 2,500 acres (most owned, some leased) with 10 species of animals and organic produce.
Will took the leap to turn to sustainable practices with little guarantee that it would be profitable. In what onlookers might have called a mid-life crisis, he decided that he wanted to find more value in what he was doing. He wanted to consider the welfare of the animals he raised and the welfare of the land he stewards.
It dawned on him that he had to do better.
“Saying that our old idea of animal welfare was right is like saying raising your kids in a closet with only a mattress, but it’s 72 degrees and you keep plenty of crackerjacks in there for them to eat and you leave the light on, is good parenting,” he said.
So he made changes. Through hard work, diligence, and a small army of people, he learned to raise nine new species of animals, to process them on-site, to grow organic produce and to incorporate value-added products. The learning curve was steep, but he’s brought on good, smart, honest workers to turn a lofty ambition into a reality.
While driving us around, Will pulled over to introduce us to every employee we came across, and without fail, each one happily showed us his or her pet project—a man named Jay Barrows let us taste the goat’s milk he’d harvested that day, Jenni’s partner Amber Reece showed us the cow hide dog treats that are a customer favorite, Mary Bruce gave us a tour of the organic farm (complete with a snack from the garden), and John Benoit, Jodi’s husband, let us peep at hogs that were being readied to mate.
But the most charming part of the visit was sitting down for lunch and dinner each day with the Harris family and the extended family made up of the people who work at White Oak. At The Pavilion we got a pure glimpse into what matters to them. A sign is painted on the wall of this restaurant that Will built to feed his people—it reads, “We pray for plenty of good, hard work to do and the strength to do it.”
The essence of White Oak Pastures is evident in how hard the people work to do the right thing; to be right by each other and right by the living things they raise and harvest. Being there was not a glamorous trip to a precious farm-to-table experience; it was real.
Jodi, Will and Jenni Harris.
*A version of this story appeared first in Flagpole’s Locavore column.
Story by Jodi Cash
Photographs by Paige French