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About us

We're a non-profit organization catalyzing grassroots funding for local food systems, organic farming and soil fertility.

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Our mission

Building local food systems is one of the most direct, powerful ways to begin addressing critical challenges of our time—climate change, health, community resilience.

Our mission is to catalyze the flow of capital to local food systems, connecting investors to the places where they live and promoting sense of place, diversity, nonviolence and health. The Slow Money Institute catalyzes the formation of self-organizing local groups, which use a diversity of approaches: public meetings, on-farm events, pitch fests, peer-to-peer loans, investment clubs and, most recently, nonprofit clubs making 0% loans.

Invested
$80 million
Small food enterprises funded
1,000
Slow money funders
5,000

Our leadership

Passionate about redefining how we invest in organic farms and local food systems, our leadership team draws energy from our grassroots influence, driving forward in a spirit of dialogue, collaboration and innovation.

  • Woody Tasch

    Woody Tasch

    Founder

  • Tara Burkley

    Tara Burkley

    Board

  • Brian Coppom

    Brian Coppom

    Board

  • Amy Dickie

    Amy Dickie

    Board

  • Daniela Ibarra-Howell

    Daniela Ibarra-Howell

    Board

  • Walt Pounds

    Walt Pounds

    Board

  • Tana Schultz

    Tana Schultz

    Board

  • Soraya Smith

    Soraya Smith

    Board

Our history and vision

Slow Money took root in 2009 with Tasch’s ground breaking book Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered. As he traveled the country on a book tour, audience members stepped forward, inspired to create within their local communities the change he spoke about.

“As America’s economic crisis grinds on, there’s a new movement in economics. It’s called Slow Money. And it’s championed by Woody Tasch. The idea is to get investment capital to local businesses that are friendly to the environment.”

NPR's All Things Considered

“As venture capitalists increasingly bet on food start-ups, Slow Money, a nonprofit that catalyzes the flow of capital to small and local food enterprises, is committed to healing and investing in a broken system.”

The New York Times

In the ensuing decade, $80 million flowed to more than 1000 small organic farms and local food businesses via volunteer-led activities in dozens of communities. Tens of thousands attended local, national and virtual slow money events. A variety of local approaches were pursued, from pitch fests, informal networks, and investment clubs to peer-to-peer lending, all pointing towards the opportunity to grow a broader grassroots movement.

Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered

The vision behind the slow money movement is encapsulated in the Slow Money Principles, which revolve around nurture capital, care of the commons, sense of place, diversity and nonviolence. This is a framework for public conversation and cooperative action, informed by the process of bringing some of our money back down to earth, putting it to work in things that we understand, near where we live, starting with food.

From the blog

The voices of local leaders, organic farmers, food entrepreneurs, thought leaders, donors, and investors.

From Bitcoin To Beetcoin

September 14 3 min read

Updates

From Bitcoin To Beetcoin

I don’t know what a bitcoin is. I know how bitcoin is described in the media, that it is called a crypto-currency, that the Japanese programmer who created it is shrouded in secrecy, that it has been used by drug dealers, that venture capitalists are pouring billions of dollars into “mining” it.

Woody Tasch

Woody Tasch

Founder, Slow Money Institute

A Conversation With Dr. Daphne Miller

August 21 10 min read

Updates

A Conversation With Dr. Daphne Miller

Daphne Miller, MD, (Brown University; Harvard Medical School), is a practicing family physician, author, and associate clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco. For the past 15 years, her leadership, advocacy, and writing have focused on aligning all aspects of food production and agriculture with human health. Daphne is the author of two<a href="https://slowmoney.org/blog/a-conversation-with-dr-daphne-miller/">Continue reading <span class="sr-only">"A Conversation With Dr. Daphne Miller"</span></a>

Woody Tasch

Woody Tasch

Founder, Slow Money Institute

How a Zero-Percent Loan is Helping This Colorado Farm

July 11 4 min read

Updates

How a Zero-Percent Loan is Helping This Colorado Farm

Zephyros Farm and Garden has always sought diversity and quality in its organic production. When Daphne and I started this farm 13 years ago, like many young couples starting out, we wanted it all; every vegetable under the sun, flowers, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, children, worms, compost, and a life for ourselves. After many years<a href="https://slowmoney.org/blog/how-a-zero-percent-loan-is-helping-this-colorado-farm/">Continue reading <span class="sr-only">"How a Zero-Percent Loan is Helping This Colorado Farm"</span></a>

Don Lareau

Don Lareau

Co-Owner and Operator, Zephyros Farm