Ben loves all things food. He has been teaching children since 2010, after cooking his way through a Mechanical Engineering degree from CU. Since cooking stuck and engineering took the bench he has been finding new ways to engage children in the kitchen and encourage them to try new things. By effortlessly sharing his own enthusiasm for sustainable, vivacious nourishment, he has inspired kids (and adults!) of all ages to be their truest self in the kitchen and in the rest of their lives.
Ben was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado and went to CU for mechanical engineering. After graduating, he started a food business selling an award winning balsamic vinegar. After selling that business, he started a catering company, Conscious Caterers, and has been working closely with food in all ways from farm to table ever since. Ben’s passion teaching children – and specifically getting children to have new experiences in their lives… especially around food. This can be anywhere from in the kitchen, the yard, at the table even at the grocery store or out in nature, wild foraging and finding new things to eat and explore. He loves to experiment with things in new ways around food and he specializes in helping people truly experience the depth of nourishment that food has to offer.
He began his love of food in college while working at Wild Oats (now Whole Foods) in Boulder. There he worked under classically trained chefs in a relaxed environment giving him a love and zest for all things food. After speaking with friends who worked at the Wild Oats supplements department and going through several cleanses throughout college he realized the importance of nutrition, self care and movement in our daily lives. He works every day to incorporate more of that for more people in his life. There he was given the freedom to create new recipes whenever he had the time. He ended up creating several recipes that Whole Foods used when they bought Wild Outs in 2010.
He started a company making the award winning Balsamic Vinegar of 2016 – Balsamic Nectar and ran it for 5 years as a solopreneur. After selling that business he co-founded the Conscious Catering Company and worked out of the Morningstar kitchen for events at the iconic Starhouse up Sunshine Canyon.
When COVID happened and catering was no longer an option so he found his way to managing the ONE Boulder Farm on the property of Lone Hawk Farm, another event center in Boulder, Colorado.He then went on to manage the kitchen at the iconic Riverside in Downtown Boulder Colorado as well as pursuing his health coaching business and teaching kids whenever he could find the time. He has also helped his friend start a gourmet mushroom farm along the front range so always has access to colorful amazing delicious edible mushrooms for the kids to try!
He is now dedicated to educating children about all things food through after school classes and week-long camps during the summer and weeks off of school. He is an experienced Nutrition Coach and love helping kids have creative food experiences in the kitchen (among other places!). HIS SPECIALTY IS GETTING PICKY KIDS TO TRY NEW FOODS.