This is Botanical Ben

And I’m the Ben of Botanical Ben (the wee pup is George). I’ve recently moved to Rochester, NY to be closer to friends with established roots in the area. And since moving I’ve subsequently started Botanical Ben as a means of positively contributing to the greater community of the Rochester area, which I’ve come to love more and more with every passing day.

I most recently worked on a hemp farm producing CBD flower on the east end of Long Island and as a production coordinator and project manager for a large printing and display company in NYC. These jobs, alongside a brief stint as a marketing assistant for a wine and spirits importer and brand management company, helped me realize I wanted to take a more independent and self-determined career path. A path where I would be able to make a positive impact on the community around me and ensure a healthy work/life balance. I’m extremely thankful to have the privileges that allow me to be able to make this change in my career path. I hope that I can be an inspiration, if not an active asset, to help more people set out on a different type of path that they may have once thought wasn’t possible.

I’ve chosen to find my path to these goals through a micro-farm style business for several reasons. Firstly, I think it is very crucial that we as a society readjust our thinking and expectations around food availability and sourcing. We are currently relying too much on highly consolidated and fragile supply chains for most of our basic needs. A more localized and equitable food production supply chain allows more independent, local, and small producers to have a chance to access their fair share of the market while keeping the economic benefit from these sources within their local communities.

A small step I will be taking in order to support the community I’m hoping to become a part of is to donate portions of all profits to various local community activist groups and community outreach programs. I will be making every possible effort to not center myself or my efforts and to provide assistance to these organizations so they can continue to do their critical work. As I am new to the area, I’m open to any suggestions of organizations or programs that I should focus donations towards.

Secondly, and specifically why I chose a micro-farm concept, is that I feel it is important to come up with new and creative solutions to help minimize the ecological impact of farming. It seems extremely pertinent to find different methods of farming that have a positive ecological impact, as opposed to more traditional farming techniques that can take a more adversarial stance toward nature. Micro-farming allows for the use of far less physical inputs while trying to work hand in hand with nature to produce highly nutrient-dense foods. I’ve also made the choice to only use organic products in the growing process to avoid the consumption of unnecessary chemicals and prevent additional chemicals from being introduced into the environment. I’m also using compostable packaging for all products and am always working to find more and more compostable options for items used in the production process.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this! I hope you found it to be informative (maybe even interesting and inspirational) and if you have any questions, comments, or just want to say hi, feel free to reach out through the contact page here or email me directly at Ben@botanicalben.com

-Ben