The Slow Money Conference in Shelburne, Vermont was an enthusiastically attended event with over 600 activists, organizers, investors and farmers participating. The primary focus of the 2 days of talks, sessions, tours and networking was food, food production and investment strategies for food. Organic and local, small scale farms are the major players in this arena.

Organized and inspired by Woody Tasche, author of the book Slow Money, the slow money movement is in keeping with the slow food movement.

Woody Tasche and Martin Ping, executive director of Hawthorne Valley Farm

A rousing talk by Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stoneyfield Farms inspired the group with he called “pathological optimism”.

As an artist and small business owner, I view the slow money movement as growing evidence that a critical mass is being achieved, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but that there are growing numbers of participants in solution driven action. Call me a pathological optimist!

Part of my interest and commitment in the sustainability movement is to continue to emphasize the importance of how and where things are made, by whom and of what. Food is clearly at the center of the movement but stuff is the next tier of importance in bringing economic sustainability into being. Our goods support us in ways we often take for granted. We need to bring our attention to this realm as well.

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