Media

What: Building a homegrown, sustainable, urban homestead. Interview with Jules Dervaes, Founder of the Urban Homesteading Movement
Who: WISH: Women’s International Summit for Health
When: RESCHEDULED: Friday, March 12, 2010, 8:00 p.m. – Saturday, March 13, 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Where: Online at WISH Summit – Jules Dervaes. (Note: link will not be active until Friday, March 12 [...]

Path to Freedom is itself a dichotomy: a farm in the city, a “peaceful” revolution. It’s an oasis, an example and a subtle confrontation. It is simultaneously, an “urban homestead,” which existed before the term, and also one family’s quest to find “freedom” amid the chaos of city life.

“This is a sustainable family,” says Jules. “Our plan is to make a sustainable community.”

There is no farmer film more impressive than the story of the Dervaes family. Needing good farmer stories is basic, almost like needing food. [...]

Jules is a true believer, down the line. For telling a story, it’s good to have a person who’s true and driven by it. And yet, he’s vulnerable and warm. He’s a great character.

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.

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.”