Veronica Santo left the suburbs and boroughs of New York City in 2005 to experience life on a farm. What she found was a culture that values strong communities, diversity, creativity, and respect for the Earth. Since then she has been focusing her efforts on promoting sustainable agriculture and decreasing her consumption of natural resources through the use of Permaculture design principles. One gift of this process has been a large decrease in her dependence on money. For example, she pays a monthly electric bill around $14, and she grows much of her own food. Switching to this lifestyle has helped make it possible for Veronica to work part-time at a job she enjoys, where she used to be stuck in a full-time job she didn't enjoy. She spends some of her free-time walking the dog, napping, taking photographs, and decorating.

Anne Armistead, Scott Smith, and Stu Maxey--video; Stu Maxey--video editing; Ed Cohn--audio.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)