About Dervaes Institute

Through hands-on research, practice, and the free dissemination of information, the Dervaes Institute empowers grassroots, popular movements that create a more sustainable, independent and self-reliant future for all.

The Dervaes Institute supports a variety of earth stewardship activities—participating in their practical research and development, their dissemination to communities in every part of the world, and their funding. The institute’s work began with the founding of Path to Freedom.

Path to Freedom is a viable urban homestead that has been operated by the Jules Dervaes family in Pasadena, California, U.S.A since its founding in the mid-1980s. As it has grown over the last decade, the homestead’s innovations, hands-on research, and outreach activities have inspired millions to seek out new ways to grow and eat as much of their own food as possible, be more mindful of what and how they consume, and to have a greater understanding for how living locally and home-based makes a positive difference both environmentally and economically around the world.

Serving as a nexus for research and development, as well as a day-to-day practice in sustainability, the Dervaes Institute underwrites several projects. These include online social networking websites, a concerted educational and outreach program on a local, regional, and international scale through teaching events and media appearances, as well as entrepreneurial endeavors that put sustainable and ecologically diverse products straight into the homes and practices of homegrown revolutionaries worldwide.