There is such a thing as money that is too fast. Money that is too fast is money that has become so detached from people, place, and the activities that it is financing, that not even the experts understand it fully.

       In his newly published book, Inquiries Into The Nature of Slow Money, Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered, published by Chelsea Green  www.chelseagreen.com , Woody Tasch examines the idea of whether the world economy is going through a correction in the credit markets,  triggered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, or whether we are teetering on the edge of something much deeper.  He examines our current economy, tied to petro-dollars, derivatives, hedge funds, futures, arbitrage, and a byzantine hyper-securitized system of inter-mediation--- that no program trader, no speculator, no investment bank CEO ---can any longer fully understand or manage.

  Woody Tasch proposes we bring money back down to earth.  A long-term venture capitalist and entrepreneur, Tasch knows Wall Street and is putting that experience to work to create a different model of venture capital through a newly formed NGO and movement called Slow Money, which will invest in companies that build natural and social capital as well as financial capital.
                  
The Slow Money movement has two parts--- an NGO (non-government organization) where a series of workshops held around the country bring together stakeholders to talk about how they would invest slow money in their region, and a Fund side, coming to market in 2009, to raise $50-100 million to initiate a series of regional Slow Money venture funds . Scrutinizing  where we are in history, Tasch believes we have to behave differently if we want to survive, by nurturing  markets that don't require unlimited growth---growth that goes beyond the limits of natural and social capital. Tasch suggests we need to move from capital markets based on consumption and extraction to capital markets based on restoration and preservation. Slow Money could be the connection back to Main street that Wall street needs. Slow money, according to Tasch, is Nurture Capital.

      
       Woody Tasch is Chairman of Investors' Circle ( www.investorscircle.net) , a national non-profit network of investors dedicated to "Patient Capital for a Sustainable Future."  Since 1992, Investors' Circle has facilitated the flow of over $130 million to over 200 sustainability-minded early-stage companies and venture funds, including over $25 million to 42 food companies. He is Chairman and President of the newly formed NGO, Slow Money, an intermediary dedicated to catalyzing the flow of capital to enterprises that support soil fertility and local food communities. Woody has worked as an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, board member and consultant with many organizations including CERES (the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies), National Mentor, Greenway, Northwest Area Foundation, CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) and The Farmers Diner. He is a frequent speaker at various socially responsible business and sustainable agriculture venues
                
                  If you are questioning the role of money in building a vibrant healthy Community and local economy you should attend-

The event takes place on Monday, March 9, 2009, 7pm at Victoria Hall Theater, 33 West Victoria St, Santa Barbara. Cost $5, no reservations needed.  The event is presented by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network NonProfit. For more information, (805) 962-2571, margie@sbpermaculture.org,   www.sbpermaculture.org.

Co-sponsors:
Permaculture Credit Union www.pcuonline.org
Christie Communications   www.christiecomm.com
Johnny Sacko <johnnysacko@mac.com>
Santa Barbara City College Center for Sustainability    http://sustainability.sbcc.edu
Slow Food Santa Barbara  www.slowfoodsantabarbara.org
UCSB Office of Sustainability http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/
Quail Springs Learning Oasis & Permaculture Farm    www.quailsprings.org
Santa Barbara Skills and People Resource Directory ~ and Green and Local Pages  www.sblocal.org/
Owen E. Dell, landscape architect & contractor www.owendell.com (author of newly published book Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies)
Island Seed& Feed Nursery  www.islandseed.com
Hopedance Media www.hopedance.org
Isla Vista Coop  www.islavistafood .
Surfrider Foundation, Santa Barbara Chapter
Edible Gardens Seed Company
more cosponsors to come
 
ChelseaGreenTV Woody Tasch
 www.chelseagreen.com/tv/episode/1541700/
Woody Tasch, author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money, discusses a new approach to Money.  Woody Tasch is the chairman and CEO of Investors' Cirlce--a network of over 200 angel investors, professional venture capitalists, foundations, family offices and others who are using private capital to promote the transition to a sustainable economy.