Situated on the border between the Inner Bluegrass of Central Kentucky, and the escarpment of the Cumberland plateau, Berea hosts a buffet of values needed to survive the end of times or any one of the looming issues that the world faces today.

The Richmond Register recently published an article, It’s the end of the world as we know it, and in it they share a couple’s journey for a “more peaceful and sustainable existence”.

Mark Jeantheau and Donna Wellman were living in suburban Washington, D.C., more than four years ago when they decided to look for a more peaceful and sustainable existence.

After looking about the country, they settled in Berea.

The NBC network’s “Today” show was impressed enough to send a film crew to Berea early this month to look the town over and interview some community leaders.

Author Lawrence E. Joseph’s book, Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilization’s End , specifically mentions Berea as a safe haven. Joseph also praises the college’s Ecovillage and likes the area’s lack of volcanic and seismic activity.

“No other place on Earth “embodies the sacred Mayan values of service to humanity and Mother Earth like the town of Berea, Kentucky” .

Richard Olson, who chairs Sustainable Berea and heads Berea College’s department of Sustainability and Environmental Studies, said he sees “nothing precipitous about the year 2012.” However, interest generated by books such as Joseph’s and the movie “2012” are useful in getting people to think about sustainability.

To survive, “We need to design communities, homes and businesses that can get by using half the energy we are using today,” he said, “because that is all that will be available or affordable.

“In a future based on enjoying our families, cultivating creativity and useful arts, as well as eating food that we have grow ourselves, we will probably live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives,”

Berea has something different to offer for everyone that lives here. For me it’s all about living a mile away from the mountains, having a garden in my backyard, and having good coffee nearby.