A Bold Return to Giving a Damn cover art

A Bold Return to Giving a Damn

One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Bold Return to Giving a Damn

By: Will Harris
Narrated by: Will Harris
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.99

Buy Now for $25.99

About this listen

 "If I could have one wish it is that every eater in America would read this book." —Ruth Reichl

From a pioneer of the regenerative agriculture movement, a memoir-meets-manifesto on betting the farm on a better future for our food, animals, land, local communities, and our climate

Raised as a fourth-generation farmer, when Will Harris inherited White Oak Pastures he was a full-time commodity cowboy who played hard and fast with every tool the system offered – chemicals, antibiotics, steroids, and more. His ancestors had built a highly profitable, conventionally-run machine, but over time he found himself disgusted with the excess, cruelty, and smalltown devastation this system entailed. So he bet the farm on forging a different way of doing things. One that works with nature not against it, and bridges the quickly widening delta between consumers and their food. Armed with tenacity, conviction and an outsized tolerance for risk, Harris called his approach “radical traditional” and it made him the pioneer of regenerative agriculture long before the phrase existed.

At once an intimate, multi-generational memoir and a microcosm of American agriculture at large, A BOLD RETURN TO GIVING A DAMN offers a pathway back to producing food the right way. At a time when food supply chains are straining, climate-induced catastrophes are playing havoc with harvests, and concern around who owns America’s farmland are more prescient than ever, Will Harris urges us to consider where the food we eat really comes from, and to re-connect to the places and people who raise what we eat each day. With keen storytelling, a good dose of irreverence, and an unflinching willingness to speak truth to power, Harris shows us why it’s never been more important to know your farmer than now.

Featured in Food and Country directed by Laura Gabbert and Ruth Reichl Business Business Development Business Development & Entrepreneurship Professionals & Academics
All stars
Most relevant
Amazing and eloquent story telling from someone who has walked a hard line for a better future.

Inspirational Grit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was on my favourite subject of regenerative farming so was an easy sell. In saying that the journey and struggle of this farm is an eye opener and I learned a lot from it and a bit more about the food industry in the US. Took me a little while to get used to the accent but I loved it.

My favourite subject

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
a bit of hope for a future. will Harris is an inspiration and his ideas will correct my path

beautifully written and read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've long been interested in a future of farming. This book is an inspiration to do it the right way. After seeing Will on Rogan, I've been meaning to get to this book. Listened to it twice. Delivered with energy and passion. The land can do great things for us when treated the right way. Look forward to visiting the farm next trip to the states!

Inspiration to Farm

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great book that will open your eyes to the on going destruction of farm land and the change in food systems bought about by “big food”. Will has turned his practices around for the better of human health, land health and the animals well being.

The message of regenerative farming and a return to healthy food.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked it all, best book in years ,
Well informed, interesting . Could not put it down.

Honesty and Wisdom

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. A riveting account of the history of White Oak Pastures and the chain of events that drove Will Harris to do an about turn on the way he was farming to pursue a better future for the land
… one that regenerates soil and ecosystem processes by mimicking nature.
His tenacity in the face of the obstacles he encountered is inspiring to me. A clarion call to make a difference to the way food is produced by changing the food we buy.

Stubborn enough to triumph

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved hearing the story of White Oak Pastures, much a wonderful listen and very educational.
10/10 recommended.

A must listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thank you Will Harris for being prepared to live full tilt and share your Holistic journey with the world, you are doing so much good for so many... critters, animals, plants, soil and humans.

flFabulous

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.