Slow Money Movement May Have Answers

This just in from the desk of Courtney Given of the Fresh Ideas Group (okay, I admit it, her name did influence my desire to publish her news release), but I'm also very big into definitive ways to truly get this economy working...so let's take a look at this question of the moment:

Can the Slow Money movement fix a fast-failing economy?

Hot off the presses this January, author Tasch wants farms and fertility to matter

A vision for sustainable investment may just be the answer to bringing money down to earth. Author and venture capitalist WoodyTasch raises the provocative question: can new capital markets be built around preservation and restoration, rather than extraction and consumption?

Tasch, a seasoned venture capitalist, foundation treasurer, and entrepreneur, presents a fresh vision for the twenty-first century in his book “Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money. Investing as if food, farms and fertility mattered”, (published Jan. 09, 2009 by Chelsea Green Publishing Company).

Mapping out a path to bring money back down to earth, Tasch has issued a call to action for fiduciary responsibility and sustainability at one of the most critical junctures in economic history. It is a path towards a financial system that serves people and places as much at it serves industry sectors and markets. Unlike books proposing micro- and macro-economic fixes to the financial crises of the day, Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money brings a different vision—a meta-economic vision, that looks above the top line and below the bottom line and offers a new way of seeing what is going on in the soil of the economy.

"Once in a while, a book comes along that has the potential to change things,” said Steve Costa, owner of Point Reyes Books. “This is one such book. It has the potential to unleash a major movement in this country.”

As illuminating as he is thought provoking, Tasch poses serious questions such as:

* Could there ever be an alternative stock exchange dedicated to slow, small, and local?

* Could a million American families get their food from CSAs?

* What if you had to invest 50 percent of your assets within 50 miles of where you live?

Editors Note: A tour schedule can be found at www.chelseagreen.com. To request an interview with Woody Tasch, contact Sylvia R. Tawse at the Fresh Ideas Group, Tel: (303) 449 2108 x 11.

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About Woody Tasch

Woody Tasch is chairman of Investors’ Circle, a nonprofit network of investors that has facilitated the flow of $130 million to 200 sustainability minded, early stage companies and venture funds. He is Chairman and President of Slow Money. An experienced venture-capital investor and entrepreneur, he has served on numerous for-profit and non-profit boards, and was founding chairman of the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, which supports venture investing in economically disadvantaged regions. He lives in northern New Mexico.

About Chelsea Green Publishing Company

For 25 years, Chelsea Green has been the publishing leader for books on the politics and practice of sustainable living. It is a founding member of the Green Press Initiative and has been printing books on recycled paper since 1985, when its first list of books appeared.