Patagonia is known for industry-leading gear, unconventional business practices, and a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to protecting the environment. The company is not, however, known for footwear, and it has no plans to change that—its recently restocked Wild Idea Work Boot, a regenerative, eco-conscious, hard-wearing leather boot is more of a solution to a problem than a new endeavor.
The problem? Well, it has to do with making jerky. For years now, Patagonia has been sourcing humanely harvested meat for a line of buffalo jerky made by its offshoot food brand, Patagonia Provisions. The meat comes from Wild Idea Buffalo Company, a direct-to-consumer bison-meat purveyor founded 25 years ago in the South Dakota grasslands by Dan O'Brien, a wildlife biologist and rancher.
Wild Idea has two missions: creating an alternative to industrial farming, and regenerating and preserving the Great Plains grasslands using bison herds. The herds graze and migrate across the land, disturbing only the tops of the perennial grasses and leaving their 30-foot root systems untouched. The roots, in turn, keep soil from washing or blowing away, protecting the land's biodiversity while sequestering carbon dioxide beneath the Earth's surface.