3c hapter - Index of

Buy Local, Eat Local . . . Invest Local 33
helps build robust local economies, competitive markets, and lively,
self-suffi cient neighborhoods. We’re not talking about an idealistic
look backward, but a pragmatic look into the future and what it will
take to recreate the regional diversity and prosperity we’ve lost. The
adage that what’s good for General Motors (or GE or IBM) is good
for the country may not hold true in these days of outsourcing,
downsizing, and wage stagnation. But what’s good for the local family
farm, merchant, or startup truly is good for the community.
The Case for Locavesting
Let’s be clear: No one is suggesting that people rush out and sink
all of their money into the local dry cleaner (and they’re already
very well fi nanced, in my neighborhood at least, thanks to the
Korean kye system, in which groups of Korean- Americans lend
money to one another). Small businesses are risky, to be sure. Due
diligence is defi nitely required, and not all ideas or entrepreneurs
deserve to be funded.
Nor will local investing ever replace our current global fi nancial
system. It should be viewed as a complement—and a necessary
one. As Leslie Christian, a Wall Street veteran and social- impact
investment fund manager, puts it: “Ultimately, unless we have
really strong local economies, we’re not going to have a functioning
global economy.”
There is a compelling investment case to be made for small,
private, community- rooted companies as a worthy and prudent
asset class.
Local Is a Growth Business
The Buy Local movement has now reached mainstream proportions.
Local, you could say, is the new organic—often commanding the same
premium prices that organic products enjoy. The number of farmers
markets have tripled in the past decade, and community-supported
agriculture—where customers prepay a farm for a share of its
har vest —has seen a 33-fold rise since 1990. Microbrewers are hopping.
People are drawn to the authentic, unique, and artisanal. In Brooklyn,
indie entrepreneurs are handcrafting everything from chocolate and