Slow Money

Woody Tasch thinks "small local farms are the ultimate hedge fund," reports Stephanie Simon in the Wall Street Journal (9/16/09). Woody is a former venture capitalist who believes investors should "put some of their assets into businesses they can see, smell and even taste — to measure growth not by the flashing numbers on a stock ticker, but by the slow ripening of a tomato." He doesn’t pretend that "investing in sustainable local agriculture will yield an enviable return," maybe 3-6 percent over the very long term. He says the real dividend is "diversity."

As Woody sees it, investing in small farms is a way to introduce something different into a marketplace dominated by industrial farms, "where millions of acres are planted with the same variety of corn and millions of pigs are bred to be genetically similar." Small farms meanwhile "preserve heirloom seeds and quirky breeds; strengthen the soil with organic nutrients; create local markets that connect producer directly to consumer." A few investors are buying into the slow-money idea, although cautiously.

"I won’t lie — it’s a scary thing," says Martin Lindstrom, a Rockefeller heir, who says that giving his money to a goat farmer feels like "jumping off a cliff." Even some of the farmers aren’t so sure about they idea: "Specifically, they fear deep-pocketed local investors will demand a say in management decisions." They’re also afraid that "small-sum investors" will swamp them "with requests for tours and samples." Some feel they’re better off with a traditional bank loan. But Woody Tasch, who has written a book about his idea, "Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money," seeks a million people to join him. "We must bring money down to earth," he says.