Here are the next episodes for “Big Ideas for a Small Planet.” I hope we see more programs like this one on other cable stations. Sundance Channel is sure setting the path to a more environmentally educational program. Let’s all be green a little bit more tomorrow for our planet’s future.

Tuesday, April 29^th

9:00pm e/p

“Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Food” 

Loss of biodiversity, water depletion, topsoil erosion, carbon emissions: when it comes to conventional farming and industrial food production, the cost goes beyond the supermarket bill.  This episode explores the different ways professionals and ordinary people are trying to nourish us with environmentally friendly food and wine.   

9:35pm e/p

All in This Tea - Directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht.  This documentary immerses viewers in the rich world of Chinese tea while profiling the affable Californian importer who has made it his mission to introduce Americans to the brew’s many pleasures.  David Lee Hoffman founded Silk Road Teas tea after spending much of 1970s living among the nomadic tribes and Buddhist monks of Asia, for whom tea is a way of life.  All In This Tea looks at the history, traditions and intricacies of tea and joins Hoffman on a buying trip to China, where he seeks out small, artisanal growers and tries to persuade Chinese officials to turn away from industrial production in favor of handcrafted, environmentally sustainable tea farming.  This is the most recent film from the award-winning documentarian Blank (Burden of Dreams).