April 2013

Food Investor Network Businesses – Spring 2013

We are pleased to announce a spring harvest of exciting businesses that will be making presentations to accredited investors at our Spring Food Investor Network Showcase on May 20th in Seattle. Per Securities and Exchange Commission Rules, these meetings are not open to the public. Please contact us directly for more information about our showcase events and to learn about investing in local farm and food businesses.

Advanced Symbiotic Technologies is a potential game-changing startup. AST has created an organic-grade natural seed coating to improve crop yields in drought conditions. They are in field studies and with patents pending. More info …

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Better Bean has been producing and selling ready-to-eat premium refrigerated beans since 2010. They have received much acclaim and press for their exciting new product line and rolled out to high-end and regional groceries in select markets across the country. More info …

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Kansha Natural Foods is a Seattle based producer of handmade and live cultured, naturally fermented foods including pickles, kimchi and kraut sold through the Britt’s Pickles brand. Britt’s has sold through select grocery chains in the Seattle area since opening a year ago and in September 2012 inaugurated a retail store in the historic Pike’s Place Market. More info …

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Say goodbye to candy bars, cookie dough and other unhealthy, mass-produced products that kids are asked to sell each year. Say hello to a new way to boost your local economy, where wholesome food comes direct from the farm or local business to you. Farmraiser is reinventing the school fundraiser by connecting schools with local farms and healthy food products using an innovative online storytelling platform. More info …

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Suncrest Farms is a clean tech, Seattle-based company that grows lettuce that is
“Always Local. Always Fresh.™” To do this Suncrest uses advanced hydroponic
technology that decreases water consumption by 90%, reduces greenhouse
energy consumption by 50% and has a “zero” long-haul distribution footprint. More info …

Puget Sound Business Journal Features Slow Money NW as Leader in Socially Responsible Investing

Social investing is not new, but the attention it has been receiving within the past decade is. One considered a niche market, last year over $3.74 trillion was invested in socially responsible funds here in the United States. That accounts for one out of every nine dollars under professional management.

Slow Money NW was recently featured in an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal on socially responsible investing in the Pacific Northwest along with organizations like Portfolioi 21 and GoodFunds Wealth Management. Slow Money was highlighted for its commitment to connecting money to communities that are underserved by traditional financial institutions and for our role in growing the relationship economy.

Real Food Challenge and Sodexo Bring Transparency to Supply Chain

Currently, over $5 billion is spent annually on college and university campus food, the majority of which goes to large, industrial food companies. As we dive into our work with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to shift institutional buying to more local and sustainable food systems, we are celebrating the recent victory of the Real Food Challenge (RFC) in getting more healthy local food on college campuses. Last week, Sodexo, which provides contract food services on hundreds of campuses around the world, announced an agreement to begin using the Real Food Calculator, to assess their educational food service programs.

The calculator will be used at 600 college and 100 high school cafeterias to evaluate the food Sodexo serves on four key criteria: local and community-based, fair, ecologically sound, and humane. The calculator has been under pilot testing for the past three years and is an exciting innovation in the field of institutional food systems and sustainability. It allows food service professionals and consumers to perform detailed assessments of the food in their cafeterias and begin to identify opportunities to increase the purchase of “real food.” Congrats to Sodexo and the Real Food Challenge!