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On this episode of treehugger TV: Energy. Energy in the form of food for our bodies, energy created by meditation to heal the world, and electric energy to power our cars. It's a show full of energy from some very unusual perspectives.
FOOD
In this segment, our intrepid correspondent Faith Salie sets out to experience the food movement known as "back to the land."
Faith first visits San Francisco artist Laura Parker. Laura pioneered the concept of "soil tasting," which explores the connection between the dirt and the food that's grown on it. Parker fills elegant wine glasses with crusty soil from various locations, adds water to release the soil's scent, and invites guests to take a good, long whiff. It's an experience that will teach Faith that food tasting like dirt isn't as bad as it sounds.
Then Faith is off to meet Ben Ford, owner of Ford's Filling Station in Culver City. He's a pioneer in the burgeoning "snout-to-tail" movement and specializes in cooking the traditionally least desirable parts of the animal—eye sockets, cheeks and brains, to name a few. It's all in an effort to counter the wastefulness of modern farming and to bring awareness back to the art of butchery. Will Faith be able to stomach eating pig stomach?
VEDIC CITY, IOWA
One of the most innovative and forward-thinking experiments in urban design is taking place just off Highway 1 in southern Iowa. Maharishi Vedic City, established in the 1970's by Maharishi Mahesh, is a utopian community founded on the principles of transcendental meditation and the science of collective consciousness.
From perfectly oriented architecture to teachings of cosmic creative intelligence to holistic preventative healthcare (the city boasts the healthiest population in America), Vedic City has been meticulously engineered to ensure the ultimate stress-free life. But its real goal is to create world peace through a form of meditation that is so unusual, you'll have to see it to believe it.
CHEVY VOLT
Faith Salie and Ken Rother, V.P. of Interactive for TreeHugger and PlanetGreen.com, test drive the new Chevy Volt. It's an extended range electric car and it's the cutting edge in the sustainable auto movement. It's also, super cool.
