Sustainable Thoughts: Slow Money....

* What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?
* What if there were a new generation of companies that gave away 50% of their profits?
* What if there were 50% more organic matter in our soil 50 years from now?

Yeah, I don't know either. But I hope to have a better sense of the answers to these questions by the end of the week. I just took a 12.5 hour train ride to Burlington, VT to attend a "Slow Money" conference on Thursday and Friday. (I figured the train was better for the planet than driving, plus I could use all that time productively)

What is the Slow Money movement all about? From their website:
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About Slow Money
BusinessWeek calls Slow Money "one of the big ideas of 2010." NPR calls us "a movement." ACRES USA calls us "a revolution."

Founded by Woody Tasch, a pioneer in merging investing and philanthropy, Slow Money's mission is to build local and national networks, and develop new financial products and services, dedicated to:

investing in small food enterprises and local food systems;
connecting investors to their local economies; and,
building the nurture capital industry.

Soil fertility, carrying capacity, sense of place, care of the commons, cultural, ecological and economic health and diversity, nonviolence -- these are the fundamentals of nurture capital, a new financial sector supporting the emergence of a restorative economy. And these are the fundamentals of the Slow Money Principles.

Slow Money's goal is: a million Americans investing 1% of their assets in local food systems within a decade.

Because the first step is a fundamentally new way of thinking about money, our first step is a campaign to obtain signatories to the Slow Money Principles. Our next step is growing the Slow Money Alliance into a major national network that provides strategic and financial assistance to local initiatives around the country. The Founding Members of the Slow Money Alliance includes many recognized leaders in organic food, sustainable agriculture, philanthropy and social investing.
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I am excited because they have a great list of speakers. One of them I have met in person, a few were highlighted in Food Inc (if you have not seen this film, go rent it NOW), and/or a few have inspired me with their writing or speaking.

Learn more about Slow Money here. And the program for the gathering can be found here.