Blogger puts his money where his mouth is

On Limeduck, David reports he's a co-founder of a concern called Sprout Lenders, an investment club hoping to support local farms and locavore food concerns in the Boston area:

If you believe in any of the ideas of Slow Money and Slow Food, how can you advance those agendas in your community? Buying local and eating local are great starts, but individual action only goes as far as your own spending. Activism, advocacy and lobbying are other paths. In the organizing discussions at Sprout Lenders, we wanted to take our experience in business and orientation as capitalists in a kinder and localer direction.

Equity investing might be the "slower" path, being more involved in the running of the business and having a long time horizon. Lending, however, is somewhat lower risk for us as beginning investors, and it fits the seasonal and cyclical needs that a lot of food businesses have for working capital. If we're successful, the loan fund will grow with interest on repayment, and we can help several businesses a year become a little more successful themselves.