In Search of Meaningful Investments
Traveling with my beloved children to our nearest consumer mecca for back-to-school shopping left me feeling hungover. In Fort Bidwell, California, where we live, there are no stores. There are no stop lights, traffic, or a vast array of brightly lit marketing messages at every turn. So, when we venture back into mainstream culture that is so different from our everyday life, I categorize it as a cross-cultural experience. My children act like hummingbirds at the sugar water feeder. They zoom around, are hard to find, spar with each other, and cannot get enough of all the overly stimulating indulgences. After the experience, I can totally relate to this reel. Humor is essential in parenting.
In my depleted state, after these few days of shopping and fun, I read a newsletter article about restorative investment by Marco Vangelisti, where he reminded me that all our investments shape our world (thus, the term impact investing is redundant as all investments impact our world). Perhaps I was seeking a way to find meaning in how I spend money after cruising the aisles of Target, looking for glue sticks and binder paper. As I continued reading his letter, I admired how his values were expressed through his investments.
"I want to do this too," I thought.
He told a story of investing in a community-owned grocery store in Oakland, California, which is a food desert. It was an amazing story of community, local food, and restoring health. Unfortunately, the story didn't end in a way that left me feeling great or as if he were speaking to me anymore. The grocery store closed during COVID, and he lost his investment.
I am raising three children. I am a single mother. I need my investments to work. I cannot afford to invest in the way he did. Does this mean that people like me cannot invest in ways that reflect our values? Are our retirement accounts destined to be murky mutual funds?
I've worked with my financial advisor to find companies to invest in that share my values of equity, inclusion, dignity, wages, and respect for the Earth. We found that there are ways of rating companies, but it isn't always accurate or clear (greenwashing abounds). So, what options do I have to make investments that mirror the sense of place, community, and connection I value so deeply in my life while making a healthy return on that investment?
The answer must lie in community and connection, I theorized, not in centralization and commoditization. In seeking alternatives and exploring this question, my friend Jesse McDougall from Studio Hill Farm in Vermont introduced me to the company Steward, who connects lenders with people and companies in regenerative food businesses.
The work to develop alternative financial systems, models, and investment options is vital to our work to regenerate land and communities. There is so much I don't know, but I am keen to learn more, so much so that Jesse and I are going to host a free webinar on the topic. Please join us in this conversation.
Using Your Personal Finances for Regeneration
Please join the conversation during a FREE Webinar
October 3rd, 2023
9:00 am PT to 10:30 am PT
I would love the opportunity to talk with you about how to invest in a meaningful and restorative way. As a community, we've thought through so much together, and you have deeply informed our work, right down to the wording of UVE's Holistic Context. I know I will learn so much from our conversations.
I look forward to meeting up with you for the webinar and hearing your thoughts (during the session and after). If you cannot make it live, please register so that you can receive the recording of the conversation.
Hope to see you, or hear from you, soon!
Abbey
Eov Partner spotlight
Secret pass livestock
Jared and Selena Sorensen — Northern Great Basin Ecoregion — Nevada USA
I’ve had the privilege of visiting some unique locations since March 2023, when I began collaborating with UVE. One such place is Jared and Selena Sorensen’s Secret Pass Livestock, located in the Ruby and Clover Valleys of Nevada’s Great Basin. In early July, I headed south from Idaho to Clover Valley where I began the process of Short Term Ecological Outcome Verification Monitoring (STM EOV) for the Sorensen family enterprise. Sharing ecological literacy and observing landscapes with interested individuals is a joyful experience for me. There were many opportunities for joy on this trip.
My son Conley and I began our monitoring assignment in Clover Valley, Nevada. Along the Eastern slope of the East Humboldt Mountains, is the most impressive greenhouse I’ve ever seen, built by William DeMille, author of Worry-Free Gardening, and tended by William and his students.
In typical years, the abundance of life in the greenhouse is a stark contrast to the sagebrush-speckled flats. Clover Valley has received more than 100% of their typical annual precipitation since October of 2022.
The Great Basin Wild Rye grass reached outstanding heights, exceeding six feet in some areas, due to the abundance of water from the winter snow melt. These native perennial grasses feed outside cattle and produce quality beef. In addition to the nutrient-dense produce from William’s greenhouse, which feeds multiple families, Jared, Selena, and their family produce grass-fed and finished beef is available at Ruby Mountain Nourishing Foods.
When monitoring was complete at Clover Valley, we drove from the Mountain Ranch Guest House around the southern end of the East Humboldt Mountains to the North end of the Ruby Valley where Selena and Jared live with their family on the banks of Secret Creek. This was our routine for the next two days, as we completed monitoring the Secret Pass and Pole Canyon Ranches. The abundance of native plants on both ranches created a tapestry of diversity from the valley floor to the mountain meadows of Humboldt Peak. Sage grouse, mule deer, and diverse pollinators luxuriated alongside the cattle that Sorensen’s custom graze under the granite peaks.
The beautiful landscape isn’t without its challenges. The impacts of the region's harsh winters informed Sorensen’s path toward Holistic Management and regenerative thinking. As a result, they shifted their business model and developed a custom grazing business.
Jared has a heart for service and mentoring. I witnessed this gift in action as he coached my son and Will, a student, through the process of repairing a skid plate on the ranch pickup so that we could make the long journey to headquarters after a day of monitoring. Jared shares his personal journey towards regeneration through his writing (Searching for Home, Finding Grace) and coaching and highlights the knowledge of others through podcasts and webinars at The Profitable Steward.
resources for learning & practice
We have so many resources available to contribute to your success. If you haven’t had a chance yet to explore click on the buttons and take a gander!
We’d like to highlight our upcoming Holistic Financial and Land planning course, September 25th - 29th, 2023, to be held at UVE’s Learning Site in Union, Oregon. Your guides will be Master Field Professionals Andrea & Tony Malmberg and Accredited Professional and Savory Global Network Coordinator Abbey Kingdon.
Whether you are a rancher, farmer, agricultural professional, or just starting out on your regenerative journey, this course will be custom-designed to meet your needs within context.
Read Tony Malmberg’s recent post in HolisticManagement.Guide
QUANTIFY YOUR STOCKING RATE UPSIDE: HOLISTIC LAND PLANNING MADE REAL
