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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2012)
January 2012 (Continued from Page 4) Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard of the slow food movement, but what is “slow money” all about? – Phil Nimkoff, New York, NY “Slow Money” is the name for a movement started by socially con- scious investing pioneer and author, Woody Tasch, who essentially bor- rowed the conceptual framework of “Slow Food”—whereby participants eschew convenience-oriented “fast” foods, instead filling up their plates with traditional, unprocessed and, ideally, locally produced foods—and applied it to personal finance and investing. As such, Slow Money is dedicated to connecting investors to their local econo- mies by marshaling financial resources to invest in small food enterprises and local food systems. Tasch’s vision for Slow Money, now not just a concept but also a non-profit organization, seeks nothing less than a complete overhaul of the way we think about and spend our money, channeling much more of it into producing healthy local food, strengthening local communi- ties instead of multinational corporations, and restoring our flagging economy in the process. Instead of venture capital bankroll- ing far flung high tech start-ups, Tasch hopes to see “nurture capital” funding local merchants and producers who, in turn, plug half of their profits back into their communities. This ensures one small local virtu- ous circle that values soil fertility, car- rying capacity, a sense of place, care of FEATURES the commons, diversity, nonviolence, and cultural, ecological and economic health as much as financial return. Tasch hopes to get there by persuad- ing a million Americans to invest at least one percent of their assets in local food systems by 2020. Tasch started Slow Money in No- vember 2008 after the publication of his book, Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered. Hitting the road to promote the book and the nascent movement in 2009, he was able to attract 450 intrigued inves- tors, farmers and other entrepreneurs to Santa Fe, New Mexico to trade ideas at a three-day gathering. “We just wanted to see who would show up, but four of the small food enterprises that presented raised an aggregate of $260,000,” says Tasch. Tasch then organized another event for some 600 attendees the following June in Shelburne, Vermont. Investors there poured $4.2 million into 12 more producers, and that’s when Tasch knew he was really on to something. More than 1,000 people converged in San Francisco for the third event in October 2011, and Tasch expects untold amounts of “slow capital” to be changing hands for the better as a result. Whether or not you have money to invest in Slow Money’s virtuous circles, you can show your support by visiting the group’s website and electronically signing the organiza- tion’s Principles, a list of six core beliefs shared by the Slow Money community. Or if you have just $25, you could park it with the organization’s Soil Trust, which will seed small food en- terprises that promote soil fertility in locales from coast to coast. Tasch sees the Soil Trust as key to opening up the Slow Money concept to all of us and achieving the group’s goal of getting a million Americans involved in the movement over the next decade. Another key to achieving Tasch’s goal is growth of leadership at the lo- The Southwest Portland Post • 5 cal level. To that end, a dozen autono- mous local chapters have sprung up nationwide, with more sure to come as word gets out. The local groups have already gifted or lent hundreds of thousands of dollars to entities work- ing to improve their own community “foodsheds.” Now we all have a way to truly put our money where our mouths are. CONTACTS: Slow Money, www. slowmoney.org. EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Envi- ronmental Magazine (www.emagazine. com). Send questions to: earthtalk@ emagazine.com. Woody Tasch, socially conscious in- vesting pioneer and founder of the Slow Money movement. (Photo by Tammy Green, courtesy Flickr) on the Save 65% Family Value Combo Plus 3 Free Gifts 45069YLS to every shipping address. 2 (5 oz.) Filet Mignons 4 FREE Omaha Steaks Burgers, 2 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins a FREE 6-piece Cutlery Set, and a FREE Cutting Board. 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers 4 (3 oz.) Gourmet Franks 4 (4 oz. approx.) Boneless Chicken Breasts Save 4 Stuff ed Baked Potatoes Reg. $ 144 00 | Now Only 49 99 $ 94 01 $ Limit of 2 Packages. 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