Archive for November, 2009

Seventeen years ago, Jules Dervaes placed in front of his three hungry kids a quarter-pound burger and a slightly heavier condition. They had to choose between the beef sandwich and a rectangle he’d drawn in the living room, which measured 55 square feet. “For every burger you eat, you lose about that much of rainforest,” Dervaes warned, pointing at it.

We are in pursuit, most often, of what is faster, bigger, and easier. Nature, by contrast, takes 500 years to form one inch of topsoil. America was a “blessed” land, and we took it for granted that the original fertility would always remain the same without our having to be good stewards. Belatedly, we are now finding out that there are consequences to neglect that need to be dealt with. Still, it is difficult for people to pay attention to something so low. Soil does not get much respect; we treat it like dirt! We have other, more important things to do, but, ironically, there is no more important matter than where our food comes from.

Jules Dervaes attended the 2009 Green Screen Film Festival, Venice California closing ceremony to receive the ”Best Sustainability Film” award for Homegrown Revolution which was screened during the festival on Saturday, November 21st.
Homegrown Revolution is a 16 minute film short that is Jules Dervaes’ directorial debut and was filmed, edited and created by the entire Dervaes Family — in house.   Although this [...]

BY Alessandra Mallarino
http://periodicoitaliano.info/2009/11/14/rivoluzione-domestica-homegrown-revolution/
Los Angeles una famiglia come tante, decide di rivoluzionare la propria vita a favore e nel rispetto dell’ambiente. Questo il tema del film presentato al Festival Cinemambiente di Torino, che ha riscosso moltissimo successo suscitato un inevitabile interesse.
Il film Homegrown Revolution del regista Jules Dervaes è stato presentato all’interno del Festival sopra menzionato, [...]

Jules [...] feels strongly about the “Americanisation” of other countries. “We are world leaders, but leading in the wrong way,” he quipped. “The West isn’t the best example to emulate. I am more impressed by traditional Indian living.”

Coming as a breath of fresh air at the conclusion of the food forum was the Dervaes family, who transformed their [ ] Pasadena yard into a sustainable farm complete with chickens and goats. Known as urban homesteaders, Jules Dervaes and his three grown children, Justin, Anais and Jordanne, produce three tons of organic food a year on their one-tenth of an acre [garden].

“[The urban homestead model] is an attempt to take a step backwards and return to ancient values so that we can discover what we have lost and fix it before we get into more trouble.”

“If you don’t take any action, nothing is possible. It’s up to every individual to salvage whatever he can.”