Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money

“[Hewitt] paints an engaging portrait of a community learning how to take care of its own, and offers inspiration for others looking to do the same.” —Amy Cortese, author of Locavesting

In towns and cities across North America, a quiet revolution is underway. Fed up with sending their money off to make a fast buck in faraway markets, people are putting their money to work where they live, in markets they trust and understand—starting with food.

Financing Our Foodshed is a collection of real-life stories of these Slow Money pioneers and the local food entrepreneurs—sustainable farmers, bakers, restaurateurs, and more—they have chosen to support.

Fueled by their desire to do more than just eat local food, lenders of “nurture capital” are making low-interest, peer-to-peer loans to the people who produce, process, distribute and sell local food. Meet these passionate food entrepreneurs like:

• Abi, talented artist-turned-baker, who borrowed the funds to start a gluten-free bakery
• Angelina, owner of a Greek local foods restaurant, who refinanced exorbitant credit card debt incurred by renovations
• Chatham Marketplace, a much-loved grocery co-op whose monthly loan payments were reduced by a third, thanks to an ambitious collaboration between 16 investors

Financing Our Foodshed tells the compelling stories of ordinary people doing something extraordinary, and will appeal to anyone who understands the critical importance of sustainably grown local food and resilient local economies, and wants a blueprint to get us there.

“For anyone seriously interested in boosting his or her community’s economy—including politicians, policymakers, financiers, businesspeople, and activists—this book is essential reading.” —Michael H. Shuman, author of Put Your Money Where Your Life Is

Carol Peppe Hewitt is a business owner, social entrepreneur and life-long activist. She is cofounder of Slow Money NC which works to finance North Carolina's sustainable food and farming economy by connecting individuals committed to building local food systems with entrepreneurs who have compelling needs for capital. Growing up in rural Northwest Connecticut, Carol watched as working farms disappeared one by one. She now works to change that trend, guiding patient capital to sustainable farmers and food businesses in North Carolina.