The Slow Money gathering aims to fix the economy from the ground up, one small food enterprise at a time.  At a time when the big business in town is a struggling stock market, disgraced investment bankers, and a market overrun with poisonous factory-farm produce – the Slow Money Gathering is bringing to bear a new kind of investing.  They call it natural capital, farmer capital, social capital, local capital, nurture capital & cheese capital (why not?).

In the last two years, the gathering has hosted more than 1000 people form 24 states, and more than $4.25 million dollars have been invested in 16 of the presenting small food enterprises.  The event has also given rise to local chapters, who have begun investing around the country.

In 1984 I was 28, married and had two young children.  I was a carpenter by default and my experience was we had no money.  I remember wanting to go to the movies one night and scrounging for lost change in the sofa cushions.  On my father's 70th birthday, my family missed the celebration.  I had neither a car that would make the five-hour trip nor the money to rent one.  While I longed for more material security, i rationalized my circumstances as the result of my Spiritual focus.  I believed that Spirit and matter were irreconcilable.  I "chose" the Spiritual life.  I was sure money and God were not compatible.  I couldn't see that one aspect of my belief system was a smoke screen for playing it safe and avoiding failure in something I termed the "real world."

Life's current began revealing to me that material abundance and my spiritual values were not exclusive.  I joined a group studying "A Course in Miracles" and in the session I declared that I would "make" $10,000 in the month of September, I wrote my promise on a piece of paper.  It was April and I had never made even one-fifth that amount in any given month.  Soon my declaration was forgotten.  In August a commercial roofing job came to my attention.  The job was way beyond my skills requiring specialized equipment and training.  I bid it without any experience and without a clue of how I would get it done.  I received the contract, subcontracted commercial roofers, and profited $10,000 in September.  It was a month later I remembered my written declaration and awakened to the connection between my word and my world.

Early this evening a young gentleman I don't recall seeing before pops in the door and rather sheepishly asks if he might have a Grateful  Bowl, even though he has no money. 

I tell him, "Absolutely, that's what it's all about" (or something to that effect).  So I ring him up for a $5 Bowl and pull a 5 out of my pocket and put it in the drawer.  When I bring him his bowl, he is profusely grateful and strikes an interesting balance between ravaging and savoring his meal. 

While he's still eating, an older gentleman enters.  He also does not look familiar, and had just stepped in the door when he asked me if we did donations for schools, or something along those lines. I understood him to be asking for a donation, but I would soon realize the opposite.  Since I thought him to be asking FOR a donation, I went on to explain to him about our 2-plus year commitment to the community called the Grateful Bowl.  He seemed interested, and asked a few questions about how payment worked and a few other details. 

Post submitted by Anna Grace, our San Rafael General Manager:

"Do you all know, love and adore Bill Vogel, our shift leader at our San Rafael cafe?  I do, so much I can barely define it.  

Bill handed me his credit card & bought a $1,000 gift card with no employee discount.  Then he ordered 3 more cards, 2 for $500 & 1 for $200.  I rung up his credit card, and thank & acknowledge that this is $2,000 going into our thriving business' future.  He then handed me a $500 gift card & says... "This is for anyone that can not afford a Gratitude Bowl".
I said "You know what I get to do with this card Bill?  I get to ring up a $500 I Am Grateful Bowl." 
Essentially this is what evens out all those $1 Grateful Bowl contributions.  Not only did Bill tip the scale on the highest donation to the I Am Grateful Bowl yet & not only did he bump the cafe's sales up $500, he did it with the love & pure generosity that has a woman like me moved beyond tears, to the heart of the work that we do in the world. 
When you give freely, as we have with our I Am Grateful Bowl what we receive is beyond what we thought possible."