Planting Memory: Zach Ben on Feeding the Next Generation

The Diné farmer, artist, and co-founder of Bidii Baby Foods draws from the same palette in his farming and sand painting: the earth itself.

Play Episode

For Zach Ben, farming and art are inseparable expressions of culture. A sixth-generation farmer and accomplished sand painter, Zach learned both practices from his father. Whether gathering natural pigments for a painting or planting heritage seeds, he works with the same essential material—the earth. Both practices carry memory, tell stories, and connect one generation to the next.

In this episode of Doing Good, Zach explains how becoming a father gave that connection a new purpose. He and his wife, Mary, founded Bidii Baby Foods after the birth of their first child in 2021. They planted two acres by hand, growing heritage varieties of corn, squash, and melon. Their son’s first food was corn they had raised themselves and steamed underground using a traditional process. What began as nourishment for one child grew into a mission to make culturally meaningful, healthy food accessible to children across the Navajo Nation.

The pandemic had exposed the vulnerability of national food systems, while local farmers continued feeding their communities. Zach saw an opportunity to rebuild something grounded in local land, knowledge, and relationships.

Bidii’s shelf-stable foods reflect the realities of families who may live far from grocery stores or without reliable electricity. The company primarily serves childcare centers, schools, and food banks, with plans to expand traditional food production from its new farm and facility near Aztec, New Mexico. Through the Ben Initiative, Zach also helps young people reconnect with farming and create livelihoods of their own.

Asked what seed he would place in the hands of the next generation, Zach chooses corn. It represents nourishment, ceremony, connection, and ancestral inheritance. Like his sand paintings, it emerges from the earth carrying a story—and the possibility of healing.

To learn more about Bidii Baby Foods visit https://www.bidiibabyfoods.org