Adrian Grenier calls out ‘woke liberal college kids’ who tell farmers how to do their jobs

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Actor Adrian Grenier is speaking candidly about farming, sustainability, and why he believes critics, particularly what he calls "woke liberal college kids," need to show more respect to the people actually growing the nation’s food.

The 'Devil Wears Prada' and 'Entourage' star shared his views during a recent appearance on 'The Dan Buettner Podcast', where he reflected on his journey from Hollywood to founding a working ranch outside Austin.

Grenier, now 49, left Hollywood behind years ago and has immersed himself in environmental work, but he says that experience has also taught him how unrealistic some activist rhetoric can be when it collides with real-world farming.

“Frankly, these woke liberal college kids who come in with all these big ideas trying to tell farmers that they got to do one thing because it’s bad for the environment,” Grenier said.

“Well, you know, put your money where your mouth is and go out and try and solve for farming practices instead of telling the farmers who are in the trenches trying to make food that you don’t even want to pay whatever for organic cause it’s too expensive,” he added. 

Adrian Grenier urges respect for farmers facing real risks

Grenier said his perspective comes from hard-earned experience rather than theory. Growing up in New York, he admitted he knew very little about farming and once held what he described as “abstract ideas” about how food should be produced.

“As an environmentalist, I had all these abstract ideas of how things should be,” he said, adding that he now understands why many farmers rely on chemical fertilizers. “I get the luxury of trying to reinvent and figure out regenerative, healthy, organic ways of doing things, but it’s hard.”

The stakes, Grenier emphasized, are vastly different for career farmers. “If my crop dies, I’ll still get to eat,” he said. “Farmers, their margins are razor-thin, and if they lose a crop, their family doesn’t eat.”

He said that reality is often ignored by people who criticize farming practices from a distance without acknowledging the financial and emotional risks farmers face every season.

Leaving Hollywood forced Adrian Grenier to rethink purpose and values

The actor also opened up about why he stepped away from Hollywood, first leaving the industry in 2016, even though he has taken on selective projects since then. Grenier said his years in entertainment lacked accountability.

“On episodes of the show, there were never any consequences for bad behavior,” he said, referencing Entourage. “But real life isn’t like that.”

Over time, Grenier realized he had lost his sense of direction. “I always attempted to keep a level head about myself,” he said, “but as time went on, I realized that I had indulged a little too much in that world.”

He described a moment of reckoning that pushed him toward spirituality and self-reflection. “What have I given? What have I cultivated?” he recalled asking himself, realizing the path he was on “was not leading me anywhere good.”

Life at Kintsugi Ranch reshaped his outlook

In 2020, Grenier and his wife, Jordan Roemmele, founded Kintsugi Ranch outside Austin, Texas, a decision he now calls the clearest expression of how he wants to spend his life. He has described the farm as his “ultimate recognition” of purpose.

Speaking to 'Today with Hoda & Jenna' in February 2024, Grenier said he once felt like he “was flying high for many years” in Hollywood and New York. “I live a much more grounded lifestyle now,” he said.

That grounding, he believes, has tangible benefits. “You sleep better, you’re more grounded, you have a sense of wellbeing,” he told People in September 2023. “It’s good for mental health, it’s good for skill building, resilience and all of that.”

Though he has slowed down as an actor, Grenier recently hosted the reality series CryptoKnights and wrapped production on the film 'You, Always'.