3c hapter - Index of

150 Locavesting
One Percent for Local Food
Slow Money’s vision is to create a new type of entrepreneurial
fi nance, one that respects the land and the farmer, connects
investors to their local economies, and enlarges our defi nition of
fi duciary responsibility. The message is as simple as it is urgent:
To replenish the soil that our local foodsheds depend upon—and
indeed our future health and security depend upon—we must
invest in small- scale, sustainable food and agricultural enterprises.
Slow Money has facilitated $4 million in investments so far
in a dozen enterprises, such as Hometown Farms, which creates
urban vertical farms; Greenling, an online store that delivers
local, sustainably grown produce to households in central Texas;
and Gather, a locavore restaurant in Berkeley, California.
Foodshed
Similar to a watershed—a geographical area’s life- sustaining source
and fl ow of water—a foodshed refers to a region’s food production
and distribution system. It encompasses the farm, the table, and
everything in between. Like watersheds, foodsheds are vital to the
health and security of a region.
As chief instigator, Tasch’s job is to rally the troops. To
date, more than 12,000 people have signed the Slow Money
Principles, a fi ve- point affi rmation that starts with “We must
bring money back down to earth,” and ends with a quote from
Paul Newman (“I just happen to think that in life we need to be
a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes
out.”) The goal is to get a million people to sign, and eventually
commit 1 percent of their assets to local food systems.
He hopes Slow Money will spur innovative solutions. “Could
there be a local stock exchange? Could there be municipal bonds
devoted to local food systems? Could there be funds dedicated to
CSAs or buying organic farmland? The answer is yes, there could
be all those things,” says Tasch. “But it will take serious intellectual
and fi nancial horsepower.”