Last summer was the summer of food docs, and although we haven't been hearing about as many food-related films this year, there are still a bunch of good ones to go out and see. One that I'm particularly looking forward to is The Queen of the Sun, a new film about the global bee crisis from filmmaker Taggart Siegel. The film looks at colony collapse disorder through the eyes of biodynamic beekeepers, scientists, farmers, and philosophers.

Siegel's approach to documenting the sustainable food movement is character-driven (see the clip below); for evidence, look no further than his 2005 film The Real Dirt on Farmer John.

After spending a day filming with beekeeper Melanie Kirby in New Mexico, I can say that unless you're completely at ease with hundreds of bees buzzing around your head, filming a movie like this must have been pretty tough.

Check out Queen of the Sun's upcoming screening schedule.

-Mark

The Southwest Tour rolled to a stop late last week, and while we're anchored in Chicago, editing the videos we filmed over the past month, I'd like to suggest another site to check out: Breaking Through Concrete.  

The project is similar in many ways to OrganicNation.tv: The crew is currently taking a road trip across the country, shooting video and taking photos of farms along the way. There are a few wrinkles though. First, the vehicle is a short bus powered by diesel and veggie grease (pictured above), which looks really rad. Second, they focus mostly on urban farms (although they seem to be making a bunch of rural stops too).

Part of what makes this project great is the skill level of the team. Brothers David and Michael Hanson are at the core; David is a freelance journalist, and Michael is a magazine photographer. They got a contract to put together a book about urban farming, which will be made using material from the trip. The Hansons are joined by documentary filmmaker Charlie Hoxie.

The BTC boys are currently about halfway through a seven-week road trip. Follow them at Grist or on their own blog, and check out their first video dispatch (embedded below) that was put together by Michael Hanson:

-Mark

If you ever want to come join us on the road, here's your chance -- virtually, that is. Click "play" on the video to see our travels from the past month, distilled into just under 3 minutes.

The goal of the Southwest Tour is to continue telling the story of the sustainable food movement, but getting there is half the fun. All told, the month-long voyage covered about 5,500 miles of highways and country roads, and for most of the way I positioned my camera on a tripod in the backseat of the car, set to take a photo every 4 or 5 minutes.

One of the things I miss the most from the tour is the Ford Fusion Hybrid we test drove for the trip. After driving that for four weeks it's tough to get behind the wheel of anything else. Fuel efficiency is the first reason; throughout the trip I averaged 39.2 miles per gallon (better than the 36 mpg highway the car is supposed to get). That means our fuel use was only about half of what it might have been in a normal sedan.

To the right of the speedometer is a small LCD screen (pictured below, at left) showing your current fuel economy, represented in a leafy plant. As your fuel economy improves the plant grows leaves, and if it declines the plant drops its leaves. I miss that car.

Thanks to Ford for making the Southwest Tour possible!

-Mark

When Motel 6 opened in the 1960s, a room only cost $6. Nowadays, six bucks will buy you a couple of internet cards ($2.99 + tax for 24 hours of Wi-Fi at most locations), but Motel 6 is still one of the most affordable motel chains in the country. The best advice I can give someone who's planning to stay at Motel 6 for 22 consecutive nights is to bring something from home -- for us, it was a duvet and pillows -- to keep you grounded. After a few nights you get into a rhythm: Check in, throw back the existing blankets and put down your own, buy some internet cards, hit the ice machine, and call it a night.

We were pleased to find that Motel 6 is getting a makeover for the first time in 12 years, and the remodeled rooms look more like the modernist floor models in an Ikea store than a traditional motel room (Travel & Leisure magazine awarded Motel 6 "Best Room Design" this year). Gone are the carpets in favor of faux wood floors; flat-screen-TVs are mounted on the walls, and there's even a spot to hook up an iPod.

It's pretty surprising how different one Motel 6 can be from another, so we came up with a list of some of our favorite features from each location. Here's a rundown of our Motel 6 awards from the Southwest Tour:

• Best Bed: Cottonwood, Arizona
• Best Bathroom: New Orleans, Louisiana
• Best Shower: Bellemont, Arizona
• Best Customer Service: Odessa, Texas
• Best Room: Denver - Thornton, Colorado 
• Best Location: Biloxi, Mississippi (pictured below, at left)

Full Disclosure: Motel 6 is one of the official sponsors of the OrganicNation.tv Southwest Tour.