32: Escape to Reality - Food, Growing, and Starting a Business with Ben Cullen

I've known this week's guest, Ben Cullen, for a number of years, and am always excited to talk food with him at any gathering we're at. So naturally he's been someone I've wanted to bring on the show for quite a while! Ben is the owner of the recently launched Cullen's Foods, and a fourth-generation urban gardener. As the son of expert gardener Mark Cullen, Ben has worked with his father his whole life, but officially joined Mark full-time in January 2017. Together they write a weekly column for the Toronto Star on horticulture, and have a new book out, Escape to Reality: How the World is Changing Gardening, and How Gardening is Changing the World.

On the show, Ben discusses what makes gardening such an important tool to actively reimagine more sustainable, healthy, and happier futures. Ben has a unique perspective on the food world, as he spent some time working in the food industry following his agricultural education. We explore the nuances of these dual identities and the implications they have for his business, along with how he uses this knowledge to increase accountability and sustainability of food business in local spheres.

I love talking with Ben because we come to the idea of food sustainability from two different lenses. I think this is important, given the echo chambers of social media: it's easy to get caught up in ideas and spheres that make us comfortable… and the ideas in commerce and business certainly don't come naturally to a biocultural anthropologist like me! When we're thinking about anti-consumerist futures, it's important to look at how different backgrounds and experiences can help shape these futures together.

Enjoy the episode in the web player above, or download on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or iHeartRadio.

Resources:

• Ben and Mark Cullen's Escape to Reality: How the World is Changing Gardening and How Gardening is Changing the World
  
• Ben and Mark's Toronto Star Column
  

Get Social with Ben!

• Cullen's Foods Website
  
• Cullen's Foods on Instagram