TURN OFF THE FOOD NETWORK.

Reject the notion that cooking is about speed, short cuts and fatty foods.

It's OK to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen, Rachael Ray. Listen, Sandra Lee, using prepared marinades and pre-chopped garlic does not really count as cooking. And butter is not a necessary ingredient in every single dish, Paula Deen.

The new buzz in cooking is organic, slow, sustainable and local. A slew of young, trendy chefs are making the case for this back-to-the-farm movement. While the media spins organic as if this paradigm is new, that's simply not accurate.

Remember the '60s? According to James Ehrlich, director and producer of the funky cooking series "The Hippy Gourmet," the long-hairs should be thanked for "bringing societal awareness to the environment, and to cleaning up the decades of pollution that was started at the onset of the industrial revolution."

"The Hippy Gourmet" stars Bruce Brennan, longtime chef and lifetime hippie. Currently, you can catch his show in 5-minute segments on D.C.-area Public Television stations. In many other parts of the country, food enthusiasts can watch "The Hippy Gourmet" for a half hour. A plan to broadcast the full show — as well as Ehrlich and Brennan's new program, "Organic Living With the Hippy Gourmet" — to the rest of the country is in the works, but in the meantime, local fans can get their fix on youtube.com/hippygourmet. (The twosome has also put out a cookbook, natch: "The Hippy Gourmet's Quick and Simple Cookbook for Healthy Eating.")

While wearing tie-dye T-shirts (and, sometimes, chef's whites) in his Haight-Ashbury home, Brennan invites the viewer in, espousing the ease of cooking the natural way, all while dotting sentences with "dude." Featuring delicious recipes using fresh vegetables, home-grown herbs and completely sustainable products, the show is the exact opposite of what you'll get from the Food Network's one-size-fits-all chef-lebrities.

It's also apparent Brennan's been cooking with vegetables and organics way before the hype. The show is refreshing in its simplicity, self-effacing humor and genuineness. And who doesn't love a middle-aged hippie who still thinks he can change the world?

We asked Bruce Brennan and James Ehrlich to Express 5 "Hippy Gourmet" ways of cooking, eating and traveling.

EXPRESS 5 HIPPIE KITCHEN MUST-HAVES:

1) BRUCE: At least a few good, large cast iron skillets for cooking outdoors and indoors. A bit heavier to carry around but healthier and better to cook in.
2) JAMES: Relying less on timber and more on wonderfully sustainable products. We use bamboo cutting boards. They're strong and durable.
3) BRUCE: A flexible spoon and spatula [to get] at every molecule. No sense in wasting what took so long to grow and become food at the bottom of a pot or pan or jar. Plus, this is where most of the flavor comes from.
4) BRUCE: Having a solar oven is great, too. Solar ovens are just a deep black box with a clear lid and a couple of reflectors but it works like a charm without burning any electricity, gas, firewood or coal.
5) JAMES: "Hippy Gourmet" DVDs, and our cookbook, to help inspire your inner Hippy Gourmet!

EXPRESS 5 WAYS YOU'VE BEEN LIVING ORGANICALLY:

1) BRUCE: Gathering roots and tubers at the side of the road. Learning to survive on wild foods like Jerusalem artichokes that look like sunflower stalks but have edible tubers at the bottom that have enough nutrition to survive on.
2) JAMES: We grow our own organic vegetables, herbs and spices, because there's honestly nothing more rewarding than cooking with fresh ingredients that are home grown. We also encourage people to try growing a tomato plant, a rosemary bush, or any kind of fruit or vegetable, even if they only have a fire escape or window sill.
3) JAMES: By purchasing hemp food, oil and clothing. Hemp foods possess the greatest amounts of nutrition that is perfectly balanced for the human body. So hemp seeds, hemp breads, hemp oil and even hemp milk are not only delicious and healthy for the individual, it's also one of the most sustainable agriculture products on earth
4) BRUCE: Buying in bulk, which is the hippie way to shop: bulk beans, grains, flour, etc.
5) JAMES: The three "R's": reduce, reuse and recycle. Oh, and one "C": compost! Back when there weren't recycling programs that simply picked up a separate set of recyclable waste at the curbside, we bundled all of our cans, bottles, twined up newspapers and cardboard and brought that over to our city's recycling center. It taught us the power of reusing what one might discard after a single use, such as a glass jar or a plastic bag. Composting is simple, and, yes, fun. The worms eat the scraps and the dirt that gets mixed in, and then at the bottom of the compost pile is the richest, most fertile soil to plant your garden with.

EXPRESS 5 DESTINATION CITIES FOR HIPPIE-FOOD ENTHUSIASTS:

1) JAMES: Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. Organic, bio-dynamic farms producing off-the-chart fruits, vegetables, dairy products and gourmet fare, connected to great local chefs and restaurants. Salt Spring Island is a true hippie destination. They even have their own currency printed over there and all the proceeds from the use of the currency pour into a nonprofit organization that funds low-interest loans to island residents.
2) BRUCE: The Hague — where the Peace Palace and World Court is. Not that they do very much there, but the food is good.
3) JAMES: Tuscany, Italy! OK, OK, so one might not think that Tuscany would be our pick. But then again, let's deconstruct what hippie food is really all about: organic, locally produced, sustainable ingredients, connected to families and friends and prepared in ways that are so simple. The ironic part is that Italians don't quite understand what the big fuss is about organics, sustainability and locally produced foods, probably because they've been practicing this lifestyle for centuries!
4) BRUCE: Amsterdam in Holland is pretty cool. Lots of great restaurants and also because it's like Disneyland for hippies.
5) JAMES: San Francisco, California — dude, did you think we'd forget about the original? San Francisco boasts some of the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the world. There's nothing quite like visiting the Haight-Ashbury and enjoying a delightful organic brunch at Bia's or shopping at Guss's Haight-Ashbury Produce Market to feel like you're really in it! So to be a hippie in San Francisco is to stock up on some awesome delights at Rainbow Market and then head over to Ocean Beach to watch the surfers and kite boarders ride the waves! Places to check out: Millennium Restaurant, Greens Restaurant and Cafe Gratitude.

EXPRESS 5 MYTHS ABOUT HIPPIES:

1) JAMES: Hippies use illegal drugs and advocate all kinds of drug abuse. This is so untrue! Hippies support hemp, but most hippies believe that the medicinal prescribing of marijuana under a doctor's care, which is legal in California, is better than anything coming from a pharmaceutical company.
2) JAMES: Hippies are dirty and have long hair. Being hippie is a state of mind and there are plenty of people who would proudly call themselves hippies who have short hair and are perceived as even being conservative. Long hair — for those hippies who still have hair — is all about freedom and the sense of who we are. It's not about how we look but rather about how we treat others.
3) BRUCE: We do use antiperspirant. Just the good kinds that are organic and don't cause cancer in mice.
4) JAMES: Hippies should never be taken seriously. Maybe someday the powers that be will actually bring themselves to officially thank the hippie movement. Hippies should be thanked for solar power, hybrid vehicles, organic foods, healthy eating, personal computers, the Internet — Al Gore used to be a hippie, you know — self-improvement, sustainable buildings, hip and colorful fashion, some of the best music ever created and so much more!
5) JAMES: Hippies are radicals. You know there is absolutely nothing radical at all in wanting peace, love and getting along with people from diverse cultures around the world! Hippies are by their nature peaceful. Loving is also a great moniker for the hippie movement, because love doesn't mean sex with everyone we meet — those days are long over by the way. "Free love" was replaced by "full-retail" in our society a long time ago. Love means we open our hearts and care about each other in very real ways. Hippies are by nature: open-minded, wanting to learn and grow from meeting others from different backgrounds and perspectives, and above all to be inclusive and tolerant. Peace is logical, war is radical!

Written by Express contributor Stefanie Gans
Photos courtesy "The Hippie Gourmet"

Posted by Express at 8:07 AM on February 20, 2008
Tagged in Eating Around , Entertainment , Express 5 , Television , Top Stories