Women and Money: Lifting the Fog

08/27/2013

Last night Shelly and I met with Thomas Atwood - Community Advocate, Fool, Resilience Circles facilitator, and we found out about RC which this article describes very well. We saw that this approach to creating a new economy is very much in line with the Money Salon's vision and tenets, especially Community. More to follow about RC, perhaps we could organize one? We are looking forward to further interacting with Thomas with whom - we discovered with pleasure - we have a shared vision for the economy and the world.

Loneliness is as strong as smoking or alcohol abuse as an indicator of premature mortality. When Lisa Cook found she had no one to help her put her cat down, she decided to act. She joined a resilience circle: a friendship group that works on new economic principles.

08/27/2013

Money Salon # 28 - August 25, 2013

Yesterday we hosted Salon # 28 with presenter Peter Ruddock. Peter embodies the philosophy of Slow Money and his presentation allowed us to envision the great possibility of an economy steeped in the principles of building caring communities, sharing resources, respect for the earth, knowledge of the food we eat and of the people who produce it. He illustrated ways to invest locally in a way to help us achieve a triple bottom line - People, Planet, Profit.

We were pleased to welcome several newcomers and members of other organizations. We do hope that the thought-provoking points that were presented helped further the conversation for an economy that sustains life.

Here below are the meeting notes that capture the presentation also for those who couldn't attend.There will be an audio file posted on the Salon's website soon.

Money Salon # 28 NOTES

Presenter Peter Ruddock

Slow Food: Advocate, Educate, Celebrate.
Started by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1980s to reconnect with the origins of food.
Slow = local, not processed, organic, environmentally sustainable.
Slow= mindful (conscious). Know where you get your food from. Sourcing is critical.
Know your farmer=know your food.
McDonald vs In-n-Out.

Slow Money = natural evolution of Slow Food (shares and supports the same agendas, investing locally). Invest in local economy, mostly food and farming.

Fast service is not the worst part of Fast Food. Fast refers to food grown with Agrobusiness’s practices.

Recommended readings:

“Cooked” - by Michael Pollan (based on these elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air)
“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” - by Michael Pollan
“In Defense of Food” - by M. Pollan

Peter shares his background: from computer programmer/inventor of GPS software to being an after-hour food advocate. In 2008 he made a full transition into food advocacy and associated with Slow Food.

Peter is involved with 3 organizations:
- Slow Food (=buy, promote local food),
Transition (is about knowing each other at all levels and creating community, but doesn’t involve the economic side),
Slow Money (is about caring and getting to know the community, not just about lending money. Ways to invest in local economy).
Three organizations that complement one another = three-legged stool.

To quote Marco Vangelisti, this is all new “we are building the airplane as we fly it”.

Single bottom line vs triple bottom line

The old paradigm only recognizes the single bottom line = maximize your profit and everything else will follow into place.
We know that’s not the case. Because profit is the primary concern, people and planet are not a consideration with the consequence of externalization of costs and commodification of people and natural resources.
In the triple bottom line paradigm, all three: People, Planet, Profit are taken into account. Money is just a tool. When we make a business decision, the question to ask is: does this decision meet the triple bottom line criteria?

US laws defend the single bottom line (maximize profit or else...)

A benefit corporation or B corporation - as opposed to a C corporation - is a corporate form designed for for-profit entities that want to consider society and the environment in addition to profit in their decision making process. Benefit corporations differ from a traditional corporation in regards to their purpose, accountability and transparency. The purpose of a benefit corporation is to create general public benefit, which is defined as a material positive impact on society and the environment.

Food Security vs Food Sovereignty

Peter distinguishes between Food Security vs Food Sovereignty
"Food sovereignty", a term coined by members of Via Campesina in 1996 asserts the right of people to define their own food systems. Advocates of food sovereignty put the individuals who produce, distribute and consume food at the center of decisions on food systems and policies, rather than the corporations and market institutions they believe have come to dominate the global food system. (wikipedia)

“Food security” - A commonly used definitions of food security come from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA):

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). (wikipedia)

In a fair economy we should be able to buy and grow our own food. It took 80 years to corporatize agriculture. It may take 50 year to build a fair economy.

How do we go about investing locally?

By law, Slow Money is not allowed to endorse, recommend, promote or broker any particular business. The investments happen as if one were to be lending to friends or family members. So first we have to get to know the farmers and local entrepreneurs. Second, there has to be an evaluation of the business model. Is the business viable? Is it really “Slow”? Does it really support the triple bottom line?

We recognize there are products that cannot be produced locally (for instance, coffee, cocoa, tea). The 80-20 formula is acceptable. 80% grown locally, 20% fair trade.

Questions to ask when shopping:

Where does the food come from? Tell the business owner you are looking for locally grown food. Tell them you wish to buy locally grown food.

Actions to take:

Make a list of local business and pick those that work better for you. Invest 5% of your money in a business within a 50 mile radius (at this point it’s not recommended to invest more than that to begin with). Know that there is no 100% guarantee you will be paid back as this type of investment can be risky. That’s why it’s important to know your farmer and buld a trust-based relationship. The ROI can vary from 4 to 6% (but it’s actually much more -as in a triple bottom line return- that includes a relationship also with the end product). As in Michal Pollan’s quote: “Shake the hand the feeds you.”

Public Banking

Shelly touched upon the topic of Public Banking which are banks which function as public utilities (investing in state services and infrastructure and the interest is re-invested in the state). Only state in the country with public banking so far is North Dakota. Santa Clara County, though, has charter cities (Palo Alto, San Jose, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, etc.) which means that their legislation makes it possible to initiate public banking programs without state interference.

Please note upcoming (September 19) talk about Public Banking with Marc Armstrong, executive director of the Public Banking Institute. If interested, stay tuned for announcement.

Recommended reading:
“Public Banking” by Ellen Brown

Resilience Circles

Touched upon Resilience Circles - small groups where people come together to increase their personal security through learning, mutual aid, social action, and community support. Nelly and Shelly to meet Thomas Atwood from Resilience Circles and will report back. Stay tuned.

Recommended reading:
“The sharing solution” by Janelle Orsi
http://sharingsolution.com/

08/24/2013

One aspect of the monetization of life that is proceeding nearly to totality in our time is that someone finds a way to commoditize nearly any movement or concept, even those that were explicitly anti-commercial in their conception. This was the fate of “cool”: what was once an emblem of African-Ame...

08/22/2013

"There is an interesting and demonstrable link between chore assignments and political attitudes later in life. Specifically, the work that girls do at home is very likely to affect their brothers’ beliefs about gender and politics for life."

Girls still do more housework than boys and get paid less to do it, says Soraya Chemaly. See how that affects everyone later in life.

08/18/2013

Objects are separate. Energy is continuous. In a world of objects there is scarcity. In a world of energy there is infinite abundance.

Perhaps the biggest core mistake you’ll make along your path of conscious growth is subscribing to the belief that you live in a world of objects. You don’t. You live in a world of energy. Objects ...

08/14/2013

http://www.beinghuman.org/

Being Human is a community about the science of human experience. We are interested in fostering a discussion about what it means to be human—psychology, behavior, neuroscience, culture, perception, the brain, and everything in between.

08/14/2013

At the June Salon's Marco Vangelisti's presentation some of us signed up to receive invitation to upcoming SlowMoney events.
We are invited to participate in the following upcoming meeting:

Slow Money - LION South Bay Working Group
Thursday, August 15
7:15 - 9:00

Peninsula Conservation Center (Acterra)
3921 E. Bayshore Road, Palo Alto

Agenda:
Introductions, What are Slow Money and LION for new people.
Chris Bickel will join us from Monterey Chocolate Company. Chris presented his business to Slow Money for the first time at the Farm Fest at Sunol AgPark, offering tastes of his amazing chocolate, which is sourced from sustainable chocolate and other local, organic ingredients. As such, Monterey Chocolate Company Chocolates tend to be seasonal, varying in flavor with what is available. (And, to my great pleasure, they like to use local chiles in their chocolate.)
Hank Herrera will join us from Dig Deep Farms & Produce, which is an urban farm, based in unincorporated Ashland in Alameda County. Hank first presented at Farm Fest at Pie Ranch last year, as well as at the Slow Money Showcase in the National Heirloom Festival. Recently, he presented to the Slow Money NorCal investors' group, SOIL (Sustainable Opportunities for Investing Locally). Dig Deep is a social enterprise and a project of the Alameda County Deputy Sheriff's Activities League. Dig Deep has a flexible CSA, which serves typically underserved areas in Oakland and the East Bay, and also sells to various restaurants and institutions in the area.

08/02/2013

Good information and also a good example of how we can orchestrate working together, how each individual effort and "opening-of-the-eyes" counts and that we are not helpless. This video attitude can be applied to many other problematic areas, including the economy.

Learn more about the spraying of toxic chemicals in our skies and how to stop it, in this informative interview with THRIVE Co-Producer & Co-Director, Kimberly Carter Gamble.

08/02/2013

Structural flaws of capitalism. Description of an economic system compatible with long term human survival.

08/01/2013

Nelly just joined Peers - loving the idea and practice of sharing what we already have and shifting from ownership to access to assess.

People all over the world are creating a new economy by sharing what they already have -- homes, cars, skills and time. Peers is a grassroots organization to support the sharing economy movement. Join in at: www.Peers.org

07/31/2013

Our Salon at Judy Kitt's last Sunday was very special. Many were new to our monthly meeting of the Money Salon. It was exciting having such a large group of us engaging our creative heart-felt feelings with our alert investigative minds. With Sperry's guidance we were able to access collectively the source of intelligence (and abundance) that is our natural way of being and to share together such a rewarding sense of integration - as both many and one. We realized this is the creative engine from which everything emerges and self-organizes into irresistible actions. Interestingly some of us have already started collecting documents and researching how to transfer funds to Credit Unions plus looking into Public Banking and other alternative programs, as suggested by future Salon presenter Sherry Hinrichs. Next month we will continue our exploration of what steps we each can take next to establish a more sustainable personal and social economy grounded in our truly juicy abundance.

The Salon thanks Judy Kitt for generously hosting our gathering in her home and thanks Sperry for brilliantly combining scientific, socio-economic, spiritual, and experiential conversations while teaching us a simple, easily replicable - yet profound - practice.

07/25/2013

Salon member Shelly attended some of the sessions at the Feminist Economic Conference at Stanford two weekends ago. A paper entitled Economic Man was mentioned. This document, while you may not agree with all of it, discusses why our current economic system, in the context of gender roles, is failing and how a more unified economy and the need for new direction in feminism is emerging that measures wealth by values that are more life sustaining for all. To promote women’s equality under the current economic structure furthers an agenda that is marginalizing so many and killing the planet. So, as women compete in the corporate/capitalist environment they/we only further the consumption agenda.

The paper is “packaged” in a way that equates the next wave of feminism as forging an economy that, in Rianne Eisler’s words, is a caring economy – and is also in line with the direction of the Women & Money Salon.

Please forward to anyone who you think would benefit from reading this. I would love to hear people’s reactions to the paper. Takes about 20 mins to read; faster if you’re a speed reader!