Financing Our Foodshed
January 2019
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The new year got off to a great start for us here at Slow Money Central Virginia. We made our first two 0% loans!
Since we launched our initiative last May, this has been our quest: to put into action the virtues of Nurture Capitalism. We cannot thank enough all of our supporters who helped us make this happen. We are touched and overwhelmed by the collective faith in our mission. A huge thanks also goes out to our first borrowers, Renard and Chinette Turner from Vanguard Ranch and Mark Jones from Sharondale Farm. It takes a leap of faith to embrace a new way of financing our food and farming businesses, and we're eager to see it to flourish in the years ahead. You can read more about the loans below.
In the meantime, if you have not yet done so, please...
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Become A Nurture Capitalist Today!
This is a grassroots effort! We hope as many people as possible will support our mission.
Any size charitable contribution
you can make to our SOIL revolving loan fund goes a long way toward helping us help the local foodshed with its financial needs. Thank you.
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Vanguard Ranch
Owned by Renard and Chinette Turner,
Vanguard Ranch
is a diversified farm business located in Louisa County just to the southeast of Gordonsville. Since they started about 10 years ago, their product has mostly been pastured goat meat and heirloom vegetables. They now want to expand and diversity to better position their farm for the future. They will be able to do that with the help of their Slow Money loan which will go toward building a squabbery. Squab are meat pigeons, known for their delicate, succulent flesh, and their popularity in cuisines as distinct as Cantonese, Moroccan and French. The Turners will be selling their squab to restaurants in Charlottesville and beyond. We'll keep you posted on their progress on our
website
and
Facebook page
. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the Turners, Renard has been featured in many press articles over the years, as well as the book
The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience, and Farming.
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Renard and Chinette Turner from Vanguard Ranch
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Sharondale Farm
Located in the Cismont community in eastern Albemarle County,
Sharondale Farm
grows more than 20 varieties of certified organic gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. The farm was started in 2004 by Mark Jones on property that's been in his family for generations. Mark is a self-taught mycologist and now speaks widely on the subject of growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. With the help of his Slow Money loan he will be purchasing new equipment that will improve efficiency on his farm. The labor savings from the new equipment can be re-directed to growing and diversifying the business for the future. This includes expanding into value added food products, nutraceuticals, and supplements, as well as providing consultation services to other farmers looking to grow mushrooms as a value-added product and alternative revenue source. We'll keep you posted on the farm's progress on our
website
and
Facebook page
.
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Sharondale Farm owner Mark Jones with Michael Reilly from Slow Money CVA
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Always Accepting Farmer Loan Applications!
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The mission of Slow Money Central Virginia is to support the financial needs of farmers and food entrepreneurs in our region. Our inaugural program called
SOIL (Slow Opportunities for Investing Locally)
is a 0% revolving loan program. We accept applications on a rolling basis. We can’t stress enough that no request is too small, as we want to be a friendly source of capital to help farm businesses grow in a way that’s best for them.
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Popular Local Food Business Seeks Financial Partner
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They may very well be the best darn donuts you will ever taste!
Great taste is off course a key ingredient to any successful food business. But
Carpe Donut
excels where so many food businesses fall short. In a world of commoditized, industrialized, chemicalized, and homogenized food, Carpe Donut sets itself apart with its organic, local, and artisanal standards. This dozen-year-old business has grown into a well-known brand in the Charlottesville area, its colorful food truck a familiar presence at the farmers market and its succulent apple cider donuts in high demand at weddings and other events throughout the region. Poised to grow on the back of an untapped potential in the corporate events space, Carpe Donut is seeking an investment partner(s) to launch it into the next phase in its development. Slow Money Central Virginia is collaborating with Carpe Donut to help find the right solution for its needs. If you are interested in discussing further, please contact Michael Reilly at
michael@slowmoneycva.org
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Other Events & Opportunities
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Allegheny Mountain Institute's Farm and Food Education Fellowship
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Now in its eighth year,
Allegheny Mountain Institute’s
fully sponsored 18-month Fellowship prepares and empowers individuals to become teachers and ambassadors for a more vibrant and accessible local food system. Selected Fellows spend six months in immersive training on our mountain farm campus (Phase I) and one year in service work with food related non-profit partner organizations (Phase II).
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Farm To Table Panel Discussion
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Feb. 4, 10:30am-11:45am
Richmond
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Join
Real Local RVA
for its first meeting of 2019 for a Farm to Table Panel discussion moderated by R
obey Martin, Richmond’s go-to journalist for everything edible. Panelists will include: David Crabtree-Logan, chef at
The Broken Tulip;
Susan Davenport, co-owner of
Tazza Kitchen;
Joe Jenkins, co-owner of
Bow Tide Farms;
Chris Stem, owner of
Harlow Ridge Farm;
Mike Ledesma, chef of
Perch
. The event will take place at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.
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Basic Computer Training for Farmers
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