urban homestead

Jules Dervaes and his three adult children all live and work together on their family farm in Pasadena, CA. They call themselves, “eco-pioneers.” They say it’s a homegrown revolution that’s taking place, a way for them to get back to a more natural, organic and better way of life. Their mission? To change the world one urban backyard at a time.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports on a family living the ultimate green lifestyle on an urban farm in Pasadena, California.

Is it neat, or is it slightly odd that in this Los Angeles community -- it's called Pasadena -- a suburban mix of nice restaurants and well-tended front lawns, there is a home wedged in with the other houses where the entire front yard is edible?

Melting ice caps, unchecked global oil consumption, mind-boggling volumes of trash accumulating in landfills — the problems facing our planet are so overwhelming, it’s tempting to tune them out. They’re just so big.

URBAN FARMING: Jules Dervaes and three of his adult children live on one-fifth of an acre in Pasadena, Calif., a block away from a multilane highway. On this tiny sliver of land, they manage to be mostly self-sufficient. “This is our form of protest,” says Dervaes, who is 60, “and this is our form of survival.”

Path to Freedom presents 'A Homegrown Revolution' A collaboration of selective media clips which feature their urban homestead and farm which focus on the need of radical action -- growing food in the city.

PASADENA - For Jules Dervaes and his three adult children, each branch sagging with fleshy eggplant and every lick of sun-generated energy are small steps along the "path to freedom."

Laboring full time at their urban homestead in Northwest Pasadena, the Dervaeses cook up their own biodiesel fuel in their garage, while outside, pygmy goats trim their lawn and provide fertilizer.

The family has invested seven years of ingenuity, sweat and sacrifice decoupling from the status quo and connecting to the world at large.

EPISODE #5... ORGANIC FOOD!

Hi Answers Pals,
It's me, J. Keith van Straaten, your answer-seeker and former newsmagazine lyricist.
Our topic this week is organic food --what is it, why does it cost more, and does it really make a difference?