Ben Bangs

Ben is a man shaped by the land.
Raised between the early homeschooling movement and the working rhythms of his family farm, he learned young that life comes from soil, sweat, and paying attention. He later studied Geology and Environmental Studies at Bowdoin College, but his real education has always come from the woods, the fields, and the seasons themselves.

As a teenager, he traveled across much of North America, but every road led him back to one truth—home is Newark, Vermont.
Ben makes his living the old way: from the land and with the land. Weather, woods, and work are constant companions, and over time they’ve carved in him a deep respect for how things grow, break, heal, and endure. In 2015, he and his wife Kim put down deeper roots and co-founded Honest to Goodness Farm, building not just a livelihood, but a life tied to place and community.

Sawdust and maple syrup run through his veins. Give him a stand of trees and he’ll see what it can become—lumber, heat, shelter, sweetness—without losing sight of what the forest needs to remain whole. He works with his hands, listens with his gut, and measures success in the health of the land as much as anything else.

Ben carries a simple but demanding goal: to feed his family from the fields and forests while leaving the land better than he found it—richer soil, stronger woods, more life. So far, that work has touched over 600 acres, and it’s only just getting started.
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Life has also brought him to his knees at times, and it was there—among the trees he’s always trusted—that something deeper took root. What’s grown is a quiet relationship with the spirit of the natural world, built not on words, but on time, work, and respect.