Just Food

An 8 week, 4,700 mile bike ride across America, mainly following the TransAmerican Bike Trail. I grew up with a fascination about the U.S. and moved here to work as a chef when I was 21. Some of the greatest vineyards, restaurants, chefs and produce all come from the States, but then alongside this comes a nation with a growing waste line and an insatiable appetite for junk food. I want to get outside and see for myself what is happening across the U.S. from a food standpoint, and what better way than on a bicycle? Over my 8 week journey I will be sharing what we find along the route through photos videos and recipes. I want to see if the inspiring shift and interest towards using local, seasonal fresh produce in our everyday diets that I have witnessed in New York is spreading.

A quick little back story: before the age of sixteen, I hadn't thought about food in any great detail. I certainly appreciated great food, but it wasn't until I suffered from chronic fatigue that food came into focus. I spent the better part of a year in bed sleeping for up to twenty hours a day. With no magical pill to cure me, I looked at alternative ways to get back on my feet. With the support of some forward-thinking friends and family, I began healing myself through diet.

The results were amazing: my energy levels increased, and all the symptoms gradually subsided. It was a eureka moment, which seems so obvious now"”you really are what you eat! This sentiment has been reaffirmed countless times in my life with people I have met with similar stories along the way.

I am riding for a New York charity called Just Food, an organization working to make NYC a healthier place to live and eat, and will be working with them on their Youth Community Chefs program.These inspiring young people are participating in urban farming and gardening initiatives and then sharing their knowledge of and passion for good food with their neighbors. By growing food, helping make it available through community-run farmers markets, and teaching their neighbors how to prepare it, Youth Community Chefs are sowing seeds of health in their communities, and will be the game changers of the future.

Please follow along and support in any way you can.

With Love,

Ben

"I never set out to be anything in particular, only to live creatively, and push the scope of my experience through adventure and passion" 
-Mickey Smith, surf photogra