so in this episode, we are talking to people who live off the grid. yikes! does anybody else think that sounds horrible? yeah. off the grid, off, off the grid. i'm just going to say it. i love the grid. i'm a big fan of the grid. grid me, grid me. i'm a big fan of the grid. i get that the grid means that the government is watching you at all times and keeping tabs on everything you do. as a black person, yeah, the government is watching me at all times, keeping tabs on everything i do. the grid comes with free wi-fi. that's kind of an upgrade. >> my name is w. kamau bell. as a comedian, i have made a living finding humor in the parts of america that i don't

understand. i am challenging myself to dig deeper on a mission to reach out and experience the culture and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." >> our world has never been more fast pace, interconnected and distracting. we are constantly barraged with texts, tweets and stock video of people typing quickly. i like the idea of being connected even with the distractions. there are plenty who don't. those people want to get off the grid. the idea of getting off the grid is different for everyone. for some, off the grid means getting closer to nature or being more ecofriendly. for others, living off the grid is the only way to escape an oppressive government and preserve their freedom. for me, off the grid means turning my phone to airplane

mode and watching netflix. luckily, there is one city that caters to people of all stripes, asheville, north carolina. in the late 1800s, asheville became known as the destination for health seekers everywhere, it's clean mountain air welcome people from all across the country and created and unusually cosmopolitan country. today, asheville has retained that spirit and is well-known as the refuge for all people looking to go their own way. >> hi. >> hi, my name is kamau. >> hi, i'm hope. >> i'm crow. >> crow, nice to meet you. >> it is my first day in asheville, and we are here because asheville all over the country is known as the place where people can come and reinvent themselves and start over. >> it is definitely a place where a lot of different cultures can come together as one and not have a lot of judgments against each other. >> you can let your freak flag

high as high as you want to. and just be. >> we used to do that in the bay area but then the property values went too high. people all over the country said asheville is the place to come and start your own thing and reinvent yourself. do you think this is the place for that? >> yes. i'm trying to go back to college. i weld. i want to finish that. >> you are going to be a welder here in asheville? >> or black smith. >> i don't mean to profile you but you seem to be outside of the mainstream. >> we think we are in the mainstream. we are part of the world religion z what religion is that? >> paganism and wicca. witchcraft. we are witches. >> asheville is known as a place for people to start their own communities an be outside the mainstream? why is asheville the place for that? >> mountain folk will give people a shot no matter how outside the mainstream they seem to be and if you are cool, you can win their respect and be into free rights for dogs or

anything. >> i like that you went to a wacky place of free rights for dogs. for a lot of people watching on tv, they probably already think this is a pretty wild place. >> hippies, black smiths and a couple of witches. when i talk to people this isn't usually what i mean. >> here, everybody is open. you can talk to anybody. you can make contact. it is really different. personally, i live for christ. it is cool. it is not a lot of judgmental hate. it is cool. >> i know i'm in a special place. in the last half hour, i talked to a wiccan, a person who is living for christ and they are about 100 feet apart from each other. not a lot of places on the planet where that is the case. >> that's right. >> spencer, nice to meet you. >> being a part of the counter culture in asheville is really like the norm. there are some communities up in

the mountains that are just completely self-sustaining. that's so crazy in a world that's so connected right now. >> exactly. that's why we are here. i want to know who are about how those people survive in the hills. >> asheville is not only supportive of people who want to live off the grid. they have do it yourself stores for it. like this one, villagers, which is one stop shopping for those looking to create a self-staining ecofriendly life. the owner, natalie pow letter is going to give me the scoop. >> if i am tired of the man that holds me down and keeping his hand in my pocket, i can come here, buy some stuff and then get off the grid and start my whole new life. >> you can totally do that, get your own world going out there and not -- cancel your phone. >> i can't do that. i guess i'm not as extreme. i would still like phone service. i guess i want the man's hand slightly out of my pocket. >> a little taste of that. >> when you are here, how do you live in your life that is reflected in the principles that

you have here? >> i live in a tiny home. >> yes. >> one of those little tiny homes. >> i have seen pictures of them. you live in a tiny home? >> yeah, that's so cool. you are welcome to come and check it out if you want. >> i am. >> you might hit your head. >> that's fine. i do that regularly. >> in the last 40 years, american home vs. gotten significantly bigger. in 1973, the median home was 1500 square feet. by 2010, it had grown to over 2100 square feet. the size increase of over 40%. yet, some people are choosing to shrink their home to 400 square feet or less in what's being called the tiny home movement. there are many reasons people are downsizing to tiny homes. it can cost less than $25,000 compared to the national average of $341,000. >> so this is my house. >> natalie's tiny house is 265

square feet of heaven. just like heaven, there is not room for everybody. >> you have now entered the kitchen. that was kick. >> it is quick. >> i guess that's the whole idea behind a tiny house, quick to get places. >> very efficient. this is the food prep area where i cook, got some burners and all my appliances. >> okay. >> and a little fridge down here. on this side is my kitchen sink. i don't have running water hooked up yet. that's why i have this crock here. so i shower at the gym and just do sort of the bare minimum as far as water needs. >> you have regular size bananas. >> i thought you might have minibananas. >> everything regular sized fits in a tiny home. this little ladder here leads up to the loft, which you are welcome to poke your head up there. >> that's the bedroom.

>> that's the bedroom. >> can i look up there? >> you can. >> i feel like this home is so -- i feel like i might break this home. >> it is built so solid, it can handle you. >> wait a minute. this is nice. >> not bad. >> i have to be honest. when i saw it from upstairs, i thought, there is no way to have a romantic evening up here. >> you can. >> there is enough room to. >> a little -- >> good for you. i thought maybe missionary but you could cycle through some of the kamasutra up hire. good job. >> you are welcome to take a seat. when you sit down, it becomes the dining room. >> nice. i'm a very lazy person. i actually like that. the tiny home movement, is there a word or a way to describe this? what is this called? >> i think you would call it minimalism.

people choosing to scale back to get to the essence of things. >> i am certainly a person who likes stuff. i'm a stuffist. you are a minimalist. i'm a stuffist. but i do know that mainstream society, the more stuff you have, isn't the happier you are. you are saying this in the reverse. >> yes. >> thank you for inviting me over. >> would you like a cup of tea before you go? >> sure, that would be great. okay.

fight heartburn fast. with tums chewy delights. the mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. tum tum tum tum. chewy delights. only from tums. they give awards for spelling but everyone knows cheese.s. cracker barrel has won awards for their delicious cheddar and they put that cheddar in a new macaroni & cheese. can you spell delicious? delicious. d. e. l... with fans clamoring for our next hit album, we return to our extravagant private studio, where we turn gold into platinum. yes, i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers. a john deere 1 familywhy is tractorever enough of it? with quik-park lets you attach and go. imatch quick-hitch gives you more time for what you love. so it takes less work to do more work.

autoconnect drive-over mower deck? done. they're not making any more land. but there's plenty of time if you know where to look. now you can own a one e sub-compact tractor for just 99 dollars a month learn more at your john deere dealer. it's more than a nit's reliable uptime. and multi-layered security. it's how you stay connected to each other and to your customers. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions, including an industry leading broadband network, and cloud and hosting services - all with dedicated, responsive support. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you're free to focus on growing your business.

centurylink. your link to what's next.

so i'm trying to understand people who live off the grid. my producers have got this great idea, i should go visit a real life prepper in the woods. the kind that won't tell us his name and insists that we come unarmed but he didn't let us insist that he be unarmed. weird how that works. so where did the prepper phenomenon come from? back in the 1950s and '60s, the government was telling children to hide under their desks to protect themselves from nuclear bombs. back then, desks were built out of special nuclear bomb-proof materials. the government was telling those kids parents to build fallout shelters to keep a stockpile to ve off of during the post

nuclear war mad max era. when the cold war ended and the constant threat of nuclear amilation passed, many preppers morphed into patriots, end is it of food and water, patriots are also hoarding guns and ammunition. i wonder what made them so afraid. here is the graph of the number of patriot groups in the u.s. in 1997. back then, their numbers were falling. i wonder if 9/11 will spike their numbers? no. what about the iraq war? >> no. hurricane cat tree no? no. barack obama becoming president? no. huh? go figure. wonder if they will spike again when he figures out a way to run for his third term. so, i'm 30 miles outside of asheville heading to meet a prepper. apparently, the only thing the guy likes more than his guns is being left alone. oh, and he wants to wear a mask, because he doesn't want anybody to know his identity. wait, is that my dad?

>> i see you made it up that mountain all right. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you too. let me show you around a little bit. >> is this off the grid? >> absolutely. >> are you a prepper, a survivalist? >> i'm kind of like all of the above. i believe in living as simply as possible. i don't have neighbors that i have to listen to. >> what do you like about living so far away from mainstream society? >> freedom, absolutely. absolutely. nobody telling me what to do or how to live my life. this is an unzoned area. if i want to put pigs down that path, i could. if my wife would permit that, i would. >> that's the funny thing about freedom. there is somebody you have to

talk to about freedom. this is pretty much what i have to see at a prepper camp, solar panels, tanks of propane, strange broken-down generator, check and a dog who is thinking, how come i don't get to wear a mask? check. >> there is a stigma about people who live off the grid like this and people would call you crazy or like you've got a screw loose. how do you feel about that stigma? >> i think the same about them. >> why do you think that about them? >> the way the government is going and the nsa, intrusions into people's lives. i think more and more people will find this lifestyle more accommodating. what they don't have the right in washington to do is to tell you or me what to do when it is in violation of the constitution. i think obama even said that the

constitution gets in his way. >> so are you willing -- what are you willing to do to keep your freedom? how far are you willing to go? >> i'll die. i'll die. and everybody i know around will do the same. >> that sounds fine to me. i just hope we both agree that that day isn't today. >> have you ever shot a gun? >> not proficient with it. i don't own a gun. >> everybody should have a gun to protect our nation from regime change. >> i just feel like guns are not ice-cream for the sake of a better society, we have to restrict how we deal with guns different than we restrict ice-cream. we should also restrict some ice-cream if you look at my gun, you could tell this is not ice-cream. >> this is an inalienable right. >> after i watch you load that gun, i see your point. >> talking about guns.

what is this right here? >> that's an ar-15. >> i have to hold it like i'm holding a baby. ♪ go to sleep little baby ♪ don't cry >> that thing is just an inanimate piece of plastic and metal like a car. it won't kill anybody unless you pull that trigger after it is loaded and then it can be extremely deadly. >> the difference between a gun and a car, this can't drop the kids off at soccer practice. >> that's a fact but it can sure motivate them to go to soccer. >> i guess we have different parenting styles, john. that's true. >> that was a joke. >> of course, of course. >> you would like to fire this, i know you do. >> when in rome. >> you hold that. you keep that muzzle straight up for me. >> absolutely. there is not one in the chamber but there is plenty in that clip. >> i don't want to be too critical of john's prepping

style but he did just give a gun to a total stranger and turn his back. >> here we go. >> honey, where did i put my extra ammo? >> you can take it right on up. >> and let it go. >> this is like losing my virginity. it takes a lot more effort than i expected. >> here we go. >> wow. i don't think i want to do that again. >> you clearly are proficient and respectful of the technology and people on tv will see that. also, they will see a man living

up on the mountain in the woods wearing a mask, dressed in camo, talking about people taking our guns away. that's going to scare some people. >> we are not the enemy of law enforcement or anybody. we just want to live in peace and quiet. i'm wearing a mask for personal reasons. i'm not a bad guy. >> i was going to say -- >> i get along with everybody. >> the asheville board of tourism is probably not going to use this as the poster for, come to asheville. >> probably not. ♪

amazing sleep stays with you all day and all night. sleep number beds with sleepiq technology give you the knowledge to adjust for the best sleep ever. save $500 on the memorial day special edition mattress with sleepiq technology. plus 36 month financing. know better sleep. only at a sleep number store. i'm getting dark chocolate and a hint of butterscotch. how about you? i taste - whaaaaaaaaaow. wha wha na na na na na na da ba da ba da ba daw! it's good. it was all pencil and paper. started out, the surface pro is very intuitive. i can draw lightly, just like i would with a real pencil. i've been a forensic artist for over 30 years. i do the composite sketches which are the bad guy sketches. you need good resolution, powerful processor

because the computer has to start thinking as fast as my brain does. i do this because i want my artwork to help people. don't let dust and allergies get and life's beautiful moments. with flonase allergy relief, they wont. most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything.

shoshow me more like this.e. show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity.

so i visited john, the masked patriot that lives off the he still has modern conveniences, cell phones, and rocket launcher that he didn't show me. i want to find somebody way off the grid that i can walk up to him and say, hi, i'm don lemon. i am on my way to meet tod kirshaw. he used to be an ordinary city slicker like me but became so concerned about the damage that humans were doing to the planet. he took the plunge and left civilization behind to live a more eco friendly life in the woods. he lives 40 miles outside of asheville, somewhere around here, i think.

following some vague directions, i think i'm in the right place. you know, nothing around for miles. no cell phone service, that annoying smell of fresh air. now, tod is going to take me on some mountainman fantasy camp to teach me how to survive one step at a time. i hope they will be baby steps. please, god, let them be baby steps. hey, fellows and ladies. >> hello. >> hey, there. >> hi. my name is kamau. >> i'm tod. glad you made it. welcome. i have a few things i'm trying to get done before dark. >> i'll help you do whatever i can. if you need me to logon to any wi-fi or order you a mocha, i can do those things. >> which of these would you like

to carry? >> i will take this one. >> this seems dangerous enough. >> well what you don't want to do is fall down on top of that. >> that's a good rule, a good rule of thumb. >> i've done it. >> a good rule of thumb and how not to lose your thumbs. just like that, i'm off in the woods with a guy i just met and a tool from a horror movie. oh, dammit, i'm the black guy. >> you can see what it is like when you get off the trail. it is pretty steep. >> are we going down into that? >> not very far. it is just off the trail. i wouldn't do that to you. >> i appreciate it. so this is the log we are going to work on here. >> okay. just hop on the other side of the tree there. let's just make a cut right here. go ahead and grab that handle and pull it straight toward you, very gently, not down. you want to go straight across the log. just kind of float it on there at first. here we go. very gentle and slow.

people think it is a big, rough, macho thing. it is more of a zen thing than it is macho. if we were cutting this whole log up and your back isn't broken by the end. you are just leaning over. >> oh, yeah. isn't that how they say, lift with your back. >> they cut these forests down to nothing with saws like this. >> really impressed at your cutting abilities for the first time. >> maybe i'm a cutting mutant. it is a skill just manifesting itself. >> maybe you should quit tv and go into logging. >> that's the same advice my last agent gave me before i fired him. >> this is the house i live in. i guess i should mention. >> oh, cool. >> if you would like to come in and take a look, you're welcome. >> okay. >> so this is it. this is the main section. this is the east wing over here. >> if i wanted to, you could have space. you could build a bigger space. you like the tinyness of the house?

>> i don't need anything else. it is different if you have a bedroom and a den and all the other things. this is the bedroom and the forest is the living room. if you are done admiring the view, we could go up to the stream and fill up the water jugs. >> sounds good. lead the way. >> i think you should lead the way. >> i'll lead the way. there are a lot of oak trees around here. we harvest acorns in the fall. you have to leach the tanins out. sometimes i have to soak them for a month or more before they are ready to eat. >> these are acorns? >> if you take a bite of these before they are fully leached, they won't poison you but they don't taste very good. you and i are going to find out if these are ready to eat. >> sounds great. >> i am not going to say anything. i am going to let you try it first. >> this is acorns. >> it just looks like dirt.

i'm not trying to insult you. >> are you kidding me. >> i'm just making an observation. i expected to see like a nut of some sort. >> these are ground up. >> so you ground these up. >> we get them, grind them up, leach them and eat them. >> let's get all the camera angles we can. this is going to be a one time and one-time-only proposition. enjoy it while it happens. you know how long it took me to eat sushi. i. ip i'm a slow adapter to the new cuisines. you have probably tasted worst things, haven't you? >> not on purpose. it tastes like sawdust aftertaste. >> sawdust, you are right about that. >> there you go. you have gone and done it. >> even though it is in a bucket, acorns, not on my bucket list.

>> starting to get dark. i don't know if we need to split any more wood but maybe get a fire going. >> i'm down with that. let's get a fire going and cook me a cheeseburger. if time is infinite, why is there never enough of it? a john deere 1 family tractor with quik-park lets you attach and go. imatch quick-hitch gives you more time for what you love. so it takes less work to do more work. autoconnect drive-over mower deck? done. they're not making any more land. but there's plenty of time if you know where to look. all john deere compact tractors come with an industry-best, six-year, no-cost powertrain warranty. is it keeps the food out. for me before those little pieces would get in between my dentures

and my gum and it was uncomfortable. just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. super poligrip is part of my life now. (man) hmm. ♪hat do you think? (stranger) good mornin'! ♪ (store p.a.) attention shoppers, there's a lost couple in the men's department. (vo) there's a great big un-khaki world out there. explore it in a subaru crosstrek. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

so, yeah, so one of the great things about most travel shows is the food. i say about most travel shows, because it is not this one. this episode, a guy brought me a bucket filled with like toilet

water and a bunch of brown paste that looks like the kind of stuff they use to put like ikea futons together. he was, would you like to eat some? i said, no. my producer said, here is your contract. yes, i would like to eat some. they keep the contract with them a lot on this show. have you seen this? oh, i need to fire all my people. >> you haven't had duck eggs before. >> no, i haven't had duck eggs before. >> they are very rich, much richer than chicken eggs. >> there they go. >> want to grab them? >> i'm 40 miles outside of asheville north carolina, hanging out with the ultimate off the gridder, tod kershaw. >> i think that needs to go in first, don't you? >> i canned these here over the open fire. >> canned bear.

>> that's bear meat. >> what's the liquid in there? >> bear juice. it smells like canned bear. >> oh, yeah. uh-huh. is that what that smell is? >> that's that smell. put that in there. actually, it doesn't really need to cook but i always cook it for a bit just to be absolutely sure. what the heck? i didn't spice it. it isn't fancy. it is bear meat, bear fat and onions and a duck egg. >> what? >> my first taste of bear meat. >> it tastes like -- >> bear. >> whatever it tastes like, it tastes like bear, sort of like stew meat. >> you are lucky i didn't try to feed you some rat. >> yeah, i am lucky. >> rat is really good, though? you know what it tastes like? >> rat. >> i feel pretty lucky. >> wow.

>> so how long have you been living out here and what brought you out here? >> well, i've been living here somewhere in the neighborhood of nine years. you notice i don't think about time so much. >> you say nine years, because you don't know what year it is. >> i can't remember how i got here and the path that led me here. i guess i could start at birth. i went through high school. i went to college, almost went in the marines and i decided to go into engineering, because i felt this very strong feeling that i should try to change the environmental situation and at the time, i believed that higher technology would help make the world a better place. i got a degree in electrical engineering when i was 33 from the university of washington. worked as an engineer. when i was finishing up my masters, came to my personal conclusion. it is all a bunch of bullshit. we have a lot of realistic fear of where we are going as a planet. in my opinion, every single

economic action that we take in society as it exists is contributing to our own self-destruction. i'm not above that. i love my half decaf soy latte. i admit it. it doesn't go with my image, i admit it. >> i hear what you are saying. like a lot of people, encapable of put can that all out of my mind while i sit on my couch and drive in my car and use my electronic devices. i love being comfortable. you know what i mean? i come out here. i see all this. i am impressed with all the work you have done out here. i couldn't imagine. amount of intentionality you have to have around living out here. >> i have experienced your life. i was an engineer. i owned a brand new car. i owned a house. i did that whole thing. but the funny thing is, i moved out here. my life is so much better than any previous time in my life. i have tried many different things. i have the luxury of not knowing

what time it is. i have the luxury of not knowing what day it is. i have the luxury of drinking water that isn't pumped through florine and chloride. i have such an easy life. i have tons of freedom. to me, that is wealth. >> you win this round, tod. you say a lot of good things. i can't even imagine sleeping here. >> that's too bad i was going to invite you to sleep here. >> really? >> yeah. >> hey, kamau. >> who is this? >> this is cnn. would you luke a tv show? >> yeah, i would love a tv show. what would i do? >> you would travel around and meet people, like bourdain, eating good food and hanging out on beaches. that sounds good. yeah, i will take one of those tv shows. >> sons of bitches. ♪rock-a-bye stacy ♪running non-stop. ♪lifting up patients... ♪...changing their socks.

♪you're sore and you're beat ♪from all that you did. ♪for rest and relief ♪try sealy's hybrid. ♪so take a load off ♪and feel good as new. ♪cause sealy's support is perfect for you.♪ only the sealy hybrid has posturepedic technology to support you where you need it most. sealy. proud supporter of you. ♪ they give awards for spelling but everyone knows cheese.s. cracker barrel has won awards for their delicious cheddar and they put that cheddar in a new macaroni & cheese. can you spell delicious? delicious. d. e. l... fight heartburn fast. with tums chewy delights. the mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. tum tum tum tum. chewy delights. only from tums.

there's no one no one surface...e. no one speed... no one way of driving on each and every road.

but there is one car that can conquer them all. the mercedes-benz c-class. five driving modes let you customize the steering, shift points, and suspension to fit the mood you're in... and the road you're on. the 2016 c-class. lease the c300 for $359 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. in my gentleman's quarters, we sip champagne and peruse my art collection, which consists of renaissance classics and more avant-garde pieces. yes, i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers.

so if you're wondering what it would be like if an entire community lived off the grid, wonder no more. deep in tennessee is the most famous commune in the world, a legendary intentional community known as the farm.

in case you didn't know, the 1960s didn't actually end in the 1960s. in the early '70s, san francisco was still in the era of flow ir power, free love, psych dellics and long hair, dope-smoking hippies. i get a contact high just thinking about it. once the haze of the air cleared, some of them found themselves yearning for more. so they bought and armada of school buses and started a cross country caravan to preach peace and love. when they were ready to settle down, they made their way to rural tennessee like you do. there, they bought 4,000 acres of land and established a new community they named "the farm." at that point, none of them actually knew anything about farming but when your back is up against the backwoods tennessee, you will figure it out. they grew food to feed themselves, built houses and had

a lot of babies, a lot of babies. what else are you going to do without a tv? as part of their new communal society, they banned money and shared everything. at its height, there were over 1500 people living on the farm. they took in over 10,000 visitors a year. eventually, they learned that even if you don't believe in money, everything comes with a cost. >> cows, i am in the middle of nowhere. >> some 60 miles southwest of nashville, tennessee, about to meet with doug stevenson, the farm's historian who has been here since 1975. >> kamau. hello, douglas. >> welcome to the farm. >> thank you. >> you want to see the place? >> yeah. >> we should probably take your car. this is probably not farmer appropriate. >> this one is a little greener.

>> you know, we have about 3 square miles of land here in the community and then we have another 1400 acres that's a nature preserve. beyond that, about 4,000 acres all together. >> i'm from the city so i don't know what an acre is, even if they are small, that sounds like a lot. >> we get spoiled on the country life. we like the peace and quiet, close to nature. we are coming up here. this is a recycle center. this is a wood shop. this is our soy dairy where we make tofu and other products. the farm was founded as a vegetarian community. this is our clinic. we are well-known around the world for our midwifery program. this is a cabin for people coming in to have their baby. >> people fly in from all around. >> from all over. >> to have babies here. >> doug told me the farm's original mission was to get people back to the land to live more naturally and to build a peaceful community that rejected consumerism and the use of money. what i'm wondering is, in this

legendary commune, how come i am not seeing any people. >> how many people used to live here? >> about 1400. >> how many people live here now. it has settled to down to like 100 adults and 150 kids. >> you think 1400 was too many people maybe? >> well, it was fun. so we're coming into downtown here. >> wait, wait. we are? >> it is very much about living with nature. >> could you point me in the direction of where you see downtown? >> it's coming up. that thing over there is our dome. >> no matter where you go, downtown is always congested. >> after doug drops me off, i want to walk around and see if i can meet any of the residents, if i can find any. the beauty of solitude and quiet are great but where are the drum

circles? isn't there a saxe that needs to be hackied. most troubling, i don't smell any weed anywhere. i do smell something brewing which leads me to these people that look to be hanging out at the farm's equivalent of a frat house. >> hi. hey, everybody. i am new to the farm. i live here now. none of that is true. hi. i am new. hi, kamau. this looks like we are making some beer. >> you are right. we are. belgian dark. it is going to be quite thick, quite lovely. >> thinking lovely. that's what they said about me in high school. >> what exactly is in here? do you not want to tell me? is it a secret recipe? >> is it people who worked at the farm who didn't work out. >> kind of a weird lab you guys had there. why would you leave that out, sir? >> if you want to step over to our testing table? >> step over to the wine bar. >> this one here is sweet potato ale. >> sweet potatoes we grew here. >> as a black person, sweet potatoes are very important to

our culture. >> polish that off. >> if i tell the black people you messed up the sweet potatoes, you might have some people showing up. that is good use of the sweet potato. why wine and beer? how is it connected to the belief system of living on the farm. >> all the beer we are getting here is coming from hundreds of miles away pretty much. why not do it here. all the energy that goes into bringing it to us, we can do it for free. >> all the fruits that we use to make all this wine, either i'll feed the ingredients to my chickens or use them in my compost so then it becomes a full circle holistic management system. >> nothing is getting thrown away. >> sustainable beer and wine, that's sounding more like the farm i have heard about but these dudes making a case of beer and a few bottles of wine isn't keeping the lights on. there is an industry here.

of course, it's tofu. >> would you like to take a look at how we do stuff. >> let's do it. >> you are going to have to sport one of these while we do it. >> that's okay. i sleep in one of these every night. >> the envy. >> that's for good luck. they have been making tofu right here for 40 years. >> they have been making tofu here since way before it was cool. >> since way before it was cool. >> do the people that work here, it is a job but do they get paid money or in tofu? how intentional community is it? >> we would be lucky to get paid in tofu. >> it is a straight-up gig. they get paid. >> you still have to deal with uncle sam. >> absolutely. that's right. it doesn't matter how outside of mainstream society. if you are making free love hippie tofu, uncle sam wants his slice. >> you want to come on over? here we go. yeah.

>> the farm has another business, making babies. they have an internationally renowned midwifery program, which has helped bring thousands into the world the way mother nature intended, no hospital, no doctor and most importantly, no drugs. >> do a lot of people that don't live here make a choice to have their babies delivered here? one of the things people like about midwifery care is the individualized attention you get. i don't just show up at the end and catch the baby. i'm there for the whole birth. >> this seems like this is the central industry of the farm you know? >> this is one of our biggest crops. >> is humans. >> that's a good crop. people are always going to want more of that, yeah. >> i'm surprised. not what i expected from the world's most famous commune, the original society that banned money, they are now like any other community in america, people with jobs and bills to pay. i can't help wonder what happened. if the old farmers are okay with

this change. i am going to sit down with old timer peter schweitzer. >> after the farm was up and running d it feel like a dream come true? >> i remember thinking we were on the cutting edge of where this country was going. i'll tell you. i believed that. i believed that in ten years, we would all be living like this. >> you have to dream big. >> we did. >> you believed by the fall of disco, we would all be living on farms. so i know you guys were 1500 people at some point when something like the changeover happened. tell me about that. >> you are asking about what it was like with 1500 people. well, it was too much. in the early '80s, we had big bills. we are getting in financial trouble. so the community gets together and decides everybody is going to have to chip in to cover this bill or we are going to lose our land. >> that's right. in the community that outlawed

money, everyone now needed to do what their parents had told them to do in the first place and get a job. >> everything changed. there was this massive exodus of people looking for work. >> i would imagine. even being here today, if i decided i wanted to live on the farm and needed a job, i don't see a lot of help wanted signs on the farm. >> no, it as tough. >> how do you think you're doing these days? >> i love the younger generation that is coming along already way ahead of where we were at the same age when we came here. they are coming with skills and awareness that it took us a lifetime to develop. >> so do you think you are holding on to that core mission from back in the day? >> look at this place that we ended up with. i feel just incredibly lucky to have been able to have got to live here and to be living here at my age now. i can't ask for anything better. a couple more teeth, maybe but, otherwise, i'm good.

i have a blog called "daddy doing work", it's funny that i've been in the news for being a dad. windows 10 is great because i need to keep organized. school, grocery shopping. my face can unlock this computer. that's crazy. macbooks are not able to do that. "hey cortana, remind me we have a play date tomorrow at noon" i need that in my world. anything that makes my life easier, i'm using. and windows is doing that. a john deere 1 familywhy is tractorever enough of it? with quik-park lets you attach and go. imatch quick-hitch gives you more time for what you love. so it takes less work to do more work.

autoconnect drive-over mower deck? done. they're not making any more land. but there's plenty of time if you know where to look. now you can own a one e sub-compact tractor for just 99 dollars a month learn more at your john deere dealer. don't let dust and allergies get and life's beautiful moments. with flonase allergy relief, they wont. most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything.

to me, off the grid means i'm in a neighborhood that doesn't have a coffee shop with an open outlet and a bathroom. you foe know what i'm saying? have you ever been in that position where your phone is about to die and you are walking

around looking for an outlet and you feel like your time on this planet is coming to an end? walking into businesses where you have no business being in looking at the floor. you are like, what do you need? nothing, i'm good, i'm good. i feel like sometimes i should send a tweet out, tell me loved ones i love them. i'm never going to see them again. >> i've finished my very unscientific tour of the farm and am meeting back up with my tour guide, doug, to see if he can give me the final sales pitch on living out here. sell me, doug, sell me. >> i consider myself to be a big city person but i can certainly see the appeal of getting away a little bit off the grid, as they say. >> it is a good quality life. >> i even think about like this morning i think i turned on the lights and i was like, wait, when you guys moved here, there probably wasn't electricity. >> we lived without electricity for the first 12 years. >> 12 years without electricity. we took technology one step at a time and we started with nothing and when something made sense, we added it.

>> what would you say to somebody who is sitting at home and has just seen this for the first time and is going, huh, i never -- maybe that's a thing. what would you tell them? >> yes, you can grow your own food. yes, you can build your own home with natural materials. you can take charge of how your babies are born. you can keep yourself healthy and find like-minded people. it is part of being something greater than yourself. there are 1200 different communities of all different flavors already going. you don't have to start from scratch. come join. >> i've met a lot of interesting people on the "off the grid" tour. people determined to live their life the way they want to. that's great for them. as much as i thought i would come out of this feeling sorry for these people, it is clear they feel way more sorry for the rest of us, constantly plugged into and enslaved bring our phones and laptops and smart

devices and, hold on. i just got a tweet. i need to respond to this. it is hard. i think we hear commune and we think of people naked and partying. we don't think of people making tofu and delivering babies and -- >> it is all about keeping a balance. you don't have to wait to live your dreams. you can find peace and sanity in this world right now but it does take attention and dedication and a lot of hard work. if you persevere, you will get there. >> well, thank you, again, thank you for letting me come out here. i appreciate it. taxi! >> this is apple jack like has been made in these mountains for many years. >> this is my first product endorsement. apple jack moonshine. >> apple jack, of course, just means it is made with moonshine. you can make raisin jack, apple jack, peach jack. it is good, isn't it?

>> it is better than the acorns. >> it is. it takes the acorns right out of your mouth and some of your tastebuds too. it takes those out too. ♪ >> anthony: some places surprise you. even if you've been traveling nearly non-stop for 15 years like me, there are places that snap you out of your comfortable world view, take your assumptions and your prejudices, and turn them upside down. they lead you to believe that maybe there is hope in the world. senegal is one of those places. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪