WHITE OAK CUISINE WITH CHEF REID
Last week we brought you a special Part I post on our recent trip to White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. What you might not know is the farm is also home to an open-aired restaurant that primarily feeds their 100+ employees (from butchers & organic farmers, to office managers) Monday through Saturday, as well as farm guests. The restaurant features daily specials along with other regular daily menu items. They also offer a wide variety of items for sale in their store front ranging from home-made preserves and lip salve to BBQ rubs and seasonal gifts. We sat down with our friend and White Oak Pastures chef, Reid Harrison, to talk about culinary life on the farm.
Tell us about yourself: Matthew Reid Harrison, Chef/Manager of The Pavilion at White Oak Pastures
Hometown + Current city: Macon, GA & Bluffton, GA
What led you to culinary arts? Couldn’t deal with another calculus class... and I love cooking.
Describe the White Oak Pastures work environment: Family. Diverse. Passionate.
How has your work influenced your definition of personal health and wellness? It’s great having access to hormone/steroid free meats along with organic vegetables, so my diet has improved a great deal from the fast pace of city living. In addition to that, there isn’t a whole lot to do around here besides work, so I’ve become somewhat of a regular at the gym.
Personal mantra: You’re either green and growing or ripe and rotting.
All photos (c) of Haley Sheffield Photography.
WHITE OAK PASTURES: WILL HARRIS
Happy October! I am beyond thrilled to FINALLY post our adventure to White Oak Pastures. Haley and I were privileged to get a first-hand tour of the USDA Certified Organic farmland from the farmer himself and his daughter. William Harris III, owner and operator of White Oak Pastures, and Georgia Trend’s 2014 Most Respected Business Leader, was recently featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post and Garden & Gun, for his success in sustainability.
The 150 year old multi-generational family farm is guided by a sustainable, humane, fair practice and zero-waste policy. Just one look at whiteoakpastures.com and you are quickly acquainted with their mantra – that cows were born to roam and graze and chickens were born to scratch and peck. “As a fourth generation stockman, I offer folks some ‘Southern Cowboy Common Sense’ on how to recognize good animal welfare: If you would like to open up a lawn chair and drink a couple of glasses of wine while you watch the animal, then you have good animal welfare," said Harris. As we drove across the massive acreage, down hills and back dirt roads, Mr. Harris explained how White Oak ascribes to a grass-fed pastured program – giving up grain feed, hormone implants, and antibiotics as well as the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides As of 2009, White Oak acquired sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, and turkeys, becoming the only farm in the United States with their own red meat and poultry on-farm, USDA-inspected abattoirs. The farm also houses an on-site store and restaurant which we will feature next week -- enjoy, friends!
All photos (c) of Haley Sheffield Photography.
THE PEACH TRUCK
In Fine Feather aims to be your go-to guide on Georgia's ever-evolving health and wellness community. During our blogging adventures the past few months, we have traveled all across the state to showcase the movers, shakers and makers of small business in health and wellness. Today's post, The Peach Truck, features our neighbors just north who share a love of our favorite Southern staple.
ABOUT: It all started when a boy from way down in Georgia fell in love with a girl from way up in the North. The blissfully happy couple moved to Nashville where the boy couldn’t wait to share everything he loved about life in the South. The city obliged with the heat and the porch, but after searching every single market, the boy couldn't find the big, rich juicy peaches he grew up eating. What became known as the “peach problem” only had one solution; driving over 300 miles to pick his girl the perfect Georgia Peach. Love at first bite. They then decided to share this love with their new city so they traded in their car for an old truck and sold fresh fruit by the bagful. Nashville fell in love too. Within five weeks, the city consumed over 10 delicious tons of peaches. Today the boy, the girl, and The Peach Truck happily share their peach passion with locals and fellow fruit enthusiasts across the country.
Name + City: Stephen + Jessica Rose. Currently living in Nashville, TN
Inspo for your business? The Peach Truck is proud to be the Nashville arm of Pearson Farm in Fort Valley, GA. I (Stephen) grew up eating peaches right off the tree so I knew what a peach should taste like. The summer of 2012, we brought our very first crop up to the city, set up with our truck in front of Imogene + Willie and the rest, as they say, is history.
Favorite peach-inspired recipe? Peaches have long gotten caught in the dessert category. They’re so much more diverse than that. The Peach Caprese salad is a summer staple at our house.
What has been the greatest reward about beginning PT? We often sit back and talk about how shocked we are at our lives. We get to do what we love, work with people we love, and add to the flavor of our city. We couldn’t be more fulfilled doing something other than we are right now.
Favorite part about the South: The people. Anytime you get a little ways out of the city, you’re reminded of the pace of life that so many people live. It’s an exhilarating reminder to slow down, and take in the simplicities of life.
Photos by: Jamie Clayton.