Paul Willis
Hundreds of family farmers and millions of hogs are thankful for the work done by Paul Willis during his 40+ years as an animal champion through his long-time leadership at Niman Ranch and nonprofits concerned with animal welfare and sustainability.
And millions of consumers have also benefitted from the humanely raised pork, bacon, beef, lamb, and other products sold by the company.
Willis joined the Peace Corps. after graduating from the University of Iowa. He returned home, and began working on the 5th generation family farm in Thornton, Iowa. “We were typical Iowa farmers, planting corn, soybeans, oats, and other crops in the spring and harvesting in the fall. I decided to expand and bought five pigs and a sow.”
Willis grew his pork business, up to about 300 pigs. But this was the 1980s and early 1990s, when factory-raised pork, “the other white meat,” was taking over the business. According to Willis, nearby farms had 13,000 hogs, with 2,500 in one building. “The conditions were terrible. The smell could make you faint. I did not want to raise animals that way.”
Willis had the pigs, but he needed a market for his pork. In 1994, he met Bill Niman, who raised beef in California. Niman also owned a meat shop in San Francisco. The two began selling their meat to restaurants such as Chez Panisse and directly to consumers. “San Francisco was a food culture destination,” Willis said. “We could not have sold our pork in Iowa.” As word spread, Willis brought on other Iowa farmers with similar values to fill demand.
And the company grew, all based on three principles:
• Environmental: Traditional family farmers use methods that have been passed down from generation to generation, allowing for the preservation of the land and care for the animals. Examples include composting, raising fewer animals with plenty of space to root and roam, and sustainable crop rotations to grow feed and bedding for the pigs.
• Economic: Farmers are paid a premium price and given access to a national marketplace in which to sell their livestock, providing the small farmer a viable livelihood that its small, rural community, although ideal for raising animals, cannot provide.
• Social: Keeping generations of family farmers on their land and in their local community so that those communities can thrive.
Today, the Niman Ranch network includes 600 family farmers who raise cattle, pigs, and lamb. The company markets 100 SKUs, from grass-fed Angus beef to hot dogs. The company was acquired by Perdue Farms in 2015. Approximately half of the business is retail/half foodservice.
Willis has been and continues to be active in dozens of organizations supporting animal welfare and small farmers. He is a co-founder of Food Democracy Now and the author of the Animal Welfare Institute’s humane pork standards–the first pork animal welfare certification standards. He has worked with organizations ranging from the United Nations to Drake University in Des Moines to improve the lives of animals and the viability of small family farmers, both in the U.S. and abroad.
“Niman Ranch has shown that you can be successful in business while also being a steward of animals and the environment. We set a bar that is now being followed by others in the industry. Young people are especially aware of where their food comes from and its impact on the environment, which is good news for future generations,” Willis said.