Slow Money Part 1 "What is the problem?"

So a farmer and an investment banker walk into a bar….
What would they say to one another?

This is the question that forms the foundation of the Slow Money movement started by Woody Tasch. We live in a time in which large farms and big business are par for the course and yet our soils are becoming depleted and the quality and nutrition of our foods lessen with every pesticide application.

Soft commodities (agricultural products that are perceived to have the same quality no matter who produces it) account for a large portion of the stock market and an even larger percentage of what farmers in the United States are growing. The issue is partly due to poor policy. In the farm bill farmers are paid subsidies based on per bushel quotas, and there are virtually no subsidies for farmers growing fresh produce outside of corn, wheat, and soy. These are often over-produced and then manufactured into stranger yet food-like products (cue high fructose corn syrup). Yet, the expectations of consumers and investors has been one of ever cheaper food and higher returns, so the subsidies continue to flow and farmers continue to grow more food faster. It all adds up to a system that recklessly seeks profit before sustainability. The USDA subsidies the top 10% of recipients with 74% of the entire allotment of subsidies. This means that the big farmers, the ones holding the largest tracks of land with the most technology get the greatest amount of money to continue doing what they are already doing- growing global commodities of corn, wheat, and soy. Farmers with thousands of acres would find it difficult to have the time, nor inclination to walk their land and identify the source of pest problems or create modes of growing companion plants together to avoid them in the first place. It is more efficient to grow acres and acres of mono-culture and then spray the entire thing. Eventually this kind of intensive industrial farming erodes the soil as well as being a questionable practice for the health of workers and consumers.

The buy low sell high mentality of investment, the mentality that drives the farm bill and commodity trading, has to change in some way if we are going to change the way food is grown. Big business principles which in the last half century have directed the movement of money have begun to show an inherent weakness. In past year, the financial meltdown bore witnesses to institutions that were thought to be bullet proof crumble before our very eyes. The current recession teaches us that we cannot expect the same return on investments that was standard even a few years ago, and that a different kind of investment strategy must evolve. The kind of unlimited growth preached by the stock market is simply unsustainable. There is also the sense of meaninglessness in the practice. If investors sole purpose is to accumulate as much wealth as possible, then what? They have no connection to the place or processes that helped create their wealth. I may be an optimist, but I believe that people have an innate desire to be part of something bigger. If money makes the world go round, why not make it go round in a trajectory that honors our land and local economies and people?

Two of our Feed Denver principles had the privilege to attend the Slow Money conference in Vermont this past week. They came back inspired and ready to put some of the Slow Money principles to work. Could you invest some of your money to see local and sustainable agriculture work profitably? There are opportunities right here in your own city. Feed Denver is working to create city wide urban agriculture, one that will provide healthy fresh foods grown by people, not machines or wall-street.

Written By: Julie Malinsky, Feed Denver's Jill of all trades http://hapticityandcitizen.blogspot.com/

From Asphalt to Asparagus

The transformation from barren to vibrant is well under way. Funded by a generous grant from The City of Denver, in collaboration with the community, and with the help of about twenty White Wave volunteers, Feed Denver has installed a parking lot farm in the Globeville/Swansea/Elyria neighborhood. We somehow wrangled up the trucks and stamina to haul about 35 yards of compost and mulch which covered the hot cement and cheat grass to provide a large space to grow food for the neighborhood. Already there are seeds in the ground and green things popping up. We can only imagine the complete metamorphosis to come, when event the brick will have tomatoes grown vertically!
A market is soon to follow, providing fresh produce to the community. As of now these three neighborhoods have no grocery stores or fresh food access within a reasonable distance. We hope to change that by growing food both horizontally and vertically up the brick wall of the adjacent warehouse. As part of the program, Feed Denver will also train a group of youth stewards from the community to help run the farm and market, as well as participate in an oral agricultural history of the neighborhood. Globeville in particular has a long history of multi-ethnic diversity and many of the immigrants to the original steel mill town, Polish, Irish, Italian, and Mexican, brought with them knowledge of particular foods and the best ways to grow them. We hope to preserve that priceless knowledge, and put food where there was an abandoned space!
There are many other changes afoot in that neighborhood. The parking lot farm is on the corner of 42nd Steele, next to the old Safeway ice cream plant. Some years ago David Karas, a local business man, bought up the building and has been converting it to a food production facility for Wild Thyme food products and other local food producers who benefit from the industrial rated kitchen and expansive warehouse space. He has graciously allowed us to place this community farm on his lot. Feed Denver hopes that eventually the farm, literally right outside the loading docks, will grow enough food to supplement the needs of the local businesses inside, and provide a sustainable model of agriculture that benefits the community and entrepreneurs alike.
We are still planting! Any vegetable starts and seeds you have to donate are appreciated! You can contact the Feed Denver office to arrange pick-up or delivery.