Slow Money Investing Takes Root

Slow Money Investing Takes Root
Listen

“We’re running out of dirt.”

In this short phrase, Woody Tasch, venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur, and author, describes the environmental degradation caused by current farming methods. Many stories are familiar: fertilizer runoff contaminating waterways and wetlands; pesticides killing birds and insects; and the recent collapse of entire bee populations. Tasch’s “quiet crisis of the world economy,” though, involves the loss of arable soil.

On its own, nature needs about 1,000 years to build up an inch of topsoil, the vitamin-rich and biologically diverse medium in which healthy plants grow. High-intensity farming methods deplete that same inch in about 40 years. More than one-third of topsoil in the United States has washed into rivers, blown away, or been paved over since Europeans began farming in North America. Even more disturbing, more than one-third of all arable farmland in the world has been degraded or lost since World War II.

An emerging cadre of enterprising investors and entrepreneurs is committed to turning this situation around, and making money in the process. Food entrepreneurs are revitalizing dozens of old businesses, and starting hundreds of new ones, based on sustainable farming and food production methods. Worldwide, this new alternative food system is referred to as Slow Food. Tasch and other investors promote a so-called Slow Money model to fund these enterprises, and realize solid returns for their efforts.

Slow Money, says Tasch, offers a new economic model intent on “investing a few billion dollars a year in tens of thousands of small food enterprises that are essential to the long-term stability and health of soil and community.” Slow Money investors—individuals, funds, and associations—steer capital to food entrepreneurs—farmers, bakers, cheese-makers, brewers, and more—who grow and produce food with methods that restore instead of deplete soil. Investors are rewarded financially for lower turnover and longer holding periods, say three, seven, 10 years, and socially (or personally) for participating in building a restorative economy.

Julia Shanks is the regional head of Greater Boston Slow Money. Like many Slow Money groups, it hosts educational forums, supports local food festivals, and brings local food entrepreneurs and investors together. A recent event brought prospective impact investors—people who invest their capital with the express intention of addressing social and environmental challenges—together to learn about creating capital markets to support local social enterprises. “Boston has a lot of people who are interested in investing for social returns as well as economic returns,” notes Shanks. “They can go in it for the long haul, not the quick exit.”

Shanks, who earned an MBA at Babson and has cooked and consulted in the restaurant industry since the 1990s, is a member of a local investment club called Sprout Lenders. “Our club makes loans to small-scale food entrepreneurs and farmers in the Greater Boston area. Initially, 14 of us came together and each contributed $2,500 to an investment pool. We decided we wanted a target return of 2–3 percent to start, enough to keep up with inflation and cover our expenses. To get a 2–3 percent return, we calculated that we need to make 9 percent on our loans, to be both financially legitimate and financially sustainable.”

With three investments in place, and more in the pipeline, Sprout Lenders recently doubled its pool of investors. Two of the loans charged 9 percent interest, so the club made its return goal. The third is a so-called royalty financing deal, a hybrid combining debt and equity. “We receive 1.9 percent of revenue until we get an imputed rate of return of 19 percent over seven years. As the company does better, we make more money, because we have a longer time horizon than a more typical financing option.” A recent Boston Slow Money Entrepreneur Showcase connected Sprout Lenders and other potential investors with new ventures and opportunities.

Investments in local agriculture represent only a small percentage of the $4 trillion socially responsible investing market. Shanks notes that involvement doesn’t present huge risks. “Anyone can start just by putting cash in a local bank, instead of a large multinational bank. Joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) co-op is a great way to invest in farmers, who get cash when they need it—up front, to buy seeds and equipment—in exchange for healthy, locally grown food later in the season.”

And, she notes, investment clubs are relatively are easy to start. Slow Money of Maine’s investment club, No Small Potatoes, offers easy-to-use template documents for starting your own group.

“You can also invest some of your money in a community development fund (CDFI),” offers Shanks. “Or try crowdfunding, like Three Revolutions, which provides capital for food innovators. All of these are great ways to make money while supporting food entrepreneurs and restoring our soils and our communities.”

Posted in Entrepreneurial Leadership

More from Entrepreneurial Leadership »

Latest Stories

a row of electricity meters
The Price of Power: What’s Driving Rising Electricity Rates? Electricity rates have been steadily increasing. Ryan Davies, a Babson professor of finance, unpacks the many reasons for that, including the massive data centers popping up across the country.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
September 30, 2025

Posted in Insights

The Babson community and mascot celebrate at the Roger Babson statue last year
No. 2 Again: Wall Street Journal Ranks Babson the No. 2 Best College for the Second Year in a Row For the second year in a row, The Wall Street Journal ranked Babson as the No. 2 Best College in the United States, lauding the College for its impressive student outcomes.
By
Eric Beato
Editor / Writer
Eric Beato
Eric Beato is the Editor of Babson Thought & Action and Babson Magazine. A native of Chicago and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Eric has worked as an editor and writer at newspapers across the country, including the Chicago Sun-Times and Boston Herald. Eric joined Babson College in 2019 after working as the communications director for a private educational travel company and as the managing editor of six regional sports publications.
September 29, 2025

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Insights, Outcomes

First row (left to right): Laura Bautista ’29, Ezel Bhatty ’29, Sydney Fojas ’29; Second row (left to right): Lucas Lebrija ’29, Tia Malhotra ’29, Remy Witt ’29
Class of 2029 Blank Leadership Scholars Bring Excitement to Campus The Class of 2029 Blank Leadership Scholars arrive at Babson equipped with entrepreneurial spirit and social impact experience, from launching nonprofits and tech solutions to championing environmental education.
By
Melissa Savignano
Writer
Melissa Savignano
Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.
September 25, 2025

Posted in Community