The Microbial Roots of Life and Health
We can’t help but see the world differently after unearthing the parallels in the essential roles that microbes play in both soil health and human health.
Apr 27, 2017
Buttercup Farms Receives Slow Money
Bonnie Yarbrough, owner of Buttercup Farms, was referred to Local Matters Investments, our Denver-based Slow Money investment club, by Tamara Campfield, one of our founding members and treasurer.
Apr 04, 2017
This Picturesque Organic Farm Could Be Yours
Norma Burns, an architect-turned-farmer, has owned and operated Bluebird Hill Farm for nearly 18 years, growing herbs, specialty vegetables, flowers, and native plants.
Feb 14, 2017
From Soil to Sustainability
Defining Sustainability. As most everyone interested in sustainability knows by now, the concept has been appropriated by numerous entities and used in various ways, often to achieve different objectives.
Feb 08, 2017
Changing the Culture and Changing Ourselves
In the late 1990s, after eight years working at Microsoft, my wife and I found ourselves on the receiving end of a financial windfall that freed us of the burden of nine-to-five jobs. Over time, our interests coalesced around the twin themes of food and community. We came to the realization that our contemporary food system has failed us at almost every level and that we need to work together with our community to imagine a new culture of food that is both abundant and resilient.
Jul 28, 2016
I Trust Cows More Than I Trust Chemists: A Conversation With Joan Gussow
How is it in this country we are so willing to look at technology and say that it will solve all of our problems? We always rush right in, let “progress” take over, and never imagine that it may have a negative effect on the overall society. I’m not sure why, but I felt this even in the very early days of the internet, when the excitement was so high.
Jun 28, 2016
State of the Soil
I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am not a political animal. I’m just an earthworm. An earthworm in the soil of a restorative economy.
Jun 13, 2016
Soil4Climate: New Organization Fights Global Warming From The Ground Up
In my day job, I’m a money guy. I manage socially and environmentally screened investment portfolios for people who want to align their money with their values. I got involved with Slow Money because of a personal interest in organic agriculture, but also because I had clients who wanted to channel some of their assets into sustainable food systems. But soil? I didn’t know anything about soil.
May 18, 2016
Planting Justice Creates Access to Living-wage Careers and Affordable Food
With the help of Slow Money Northern California, Planting Justice has purchased Rolling River Nursery, and expanded the operation in Sobrante Park, which has the highest unemployment and crime rate in Oakland. The nursery is set to be transformed into an urban farm and training center that will greatly expand access to fresh produce, food-producing trees and […]
May 17, 2016
My Agricultural Grandparents
It is not uncommon for farmers to talk about the influence their grandparents had on their farming education and their eventual success in agriculture. I am no different. But my story comes with a unique twist. My paternal grandfather, Leander Walter Townsend Coleman, was born in 1868 but was not a farmer. Unfortunately for my farming career, the Coleman family association with farming on the family land had ended three generations before Leander’s birth. So the grandparents I am about to acknowledge are not related to me by blood.
Apr 28, 2016