Know Your Beef - Episode 2873
Episode 2873: Vinnie Tortorich and Jenni Harris of White Oak Pastures discuss regenerative farming, grass-fed beef, and why it matters to know where your beef comes from. https://vinnietortorich.com/2026/11/know-your-farmer-jenni-harris-episode-2873 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Pure Vitamin Club VILLA CAPPELLI EAT HAPPY KITCHEN YOU CAN WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: @FitnessConfidential Podcast Vinnie's workout videos are available to purchase! Choose from a 2-day, 4-day, or 6-day workout, or buy all three at a discount! TO PURCHASE VINNIE'S WORKOUT VIDEOS, CLICK THIS LINK: https://vinnietortorich.com/workout Back on the Farm Vinnie opens with the theme from Bonanza and Sam Elliott's famous beef commercial. (0:00) Jenni Harris of White Oak Pastures joins the show. Her dad, Will Harris, has been a guest before. (1:30) Vinnie and Jenni agree that factory farming is not the best way to go. (4:30) Jenni finds real common ground with her vegan and vegetarian friends. Jenni and her sister are the fifth generation of Harrises to live and work on their farm in Bluffton, Georgia. (5:30) After World War II, farming changed in three big ways: commoditization, centralization, and industrialization. (6:30) Her grandfather took the farm from many crops and animals down to just cattle. In the mid-90s, Will Harris became disgusted with the commodity food system and decided to change it. (9:00) Today, White Oak thinks of itself as a little functioning food system. (9:30) Better Beef Vinnie and Jenni talk about Dr. Temple Grandin, played by Claire Danes in the movie about her life. (9:30) Temple designed the holding pens at White Oak's processing plant so animals move through stress-free. (11:30) Vinnie explains, from his deer hunting days in Louisiana, how a stressed animal's meat tastes different. (12:30) To White Oak, a factory farm is not about size. It's a lack of complexity. (15:00) Jenni explains the difference between commodity and regenerative products. (16:30) Grass-raised and grain-finished, or grass-fed all the way? (20:00) Grain finishing speeds up the time it takes an animal to get ready for harvest. (21:30) Her dad compares it to chaining a child to a couch and feeding them nothing but potato chips and candy bars. Grass-fed animals keep moving and grazing and gain weight at a much more natural pace. You are what you eat eats. (24:00) Keeping the Farm Alive How does a farm like White Oak make a living? (25:30) Jenni says the average farmer is in their 60s, and many farms are selling out. (26:00) White Oak added processing, branded its product, ships direct to consumers, and welcomes thousands of visitors and workshop guests. (27:00) Jenni left for Atlanta, then came home to be White Oak's marketing manager. (28:00) What they lack in profitability, they make up for in quality of life. Vinnie, a die-hard Hallmark Christmas movie fan, says Jenni's story is straight out of one. (29:30) Showing cattle in 4-H teaches kids real responsibility. (41:00) Will Harris wanted to create an opportunity, not an obligation, for the next generation. (47:00) Where's Your Beef From? Vinnie asks about beef labeled "Made in America" that could have come from anywhere. (49:30) Mandatory country of origin labeling for beef was rescinded in 2015. (50:30) Imported beef could then be repackaged here and labeled "Product of the USA," at a fraction of what it costs to raise an animal in the United States. Jenni calls it the single biggest event that decreased White Oak's volume. Since January 2026, imported beef can no longer be labeled "Product of the USA," but it doesn't have to name any country either. (52:30) For now, the way to know is to know your farmer, though Congress is talking about bringing country of origin labeling back. (53:30) Why it matters: there's a saying that a nation that can't feed itself can't really call itself free. (55:00) Farms are being sold off for development and data centers. (56:00) Vinnie talks about his friend Mike Rowe's pod