On August 29th, a Monday, we decided that enough was enough, it was time to open the doors. It was a blast, the food was gorgeous, and the customers enthusiastic (and understanding as our cash register was being installed as they began to stream into the shop.) We even had a friend stop by to donate his restored 1920′s Hobart slicer to the shop where we will use it for only the most lovely charcuterie. We had some sandwich specials (pulled pork, roasted lamb, and short ribs) and started to fill the case with fresh local meat, available for the first time in Berkshire County. Our shop was and remains only partially filled, with more meats, prepared foods, and finally we are building a carefully edited pantry of things one would need to make a simple dinner, including fresh produce provided by the new Community Cooperative Farms. Here are a few shots from the day.

There is a movement afoot that looks at investing in small local businesses as form of activism. Slow Money is an organization, founded by former venture capitalist Woody Tasch, whose mission is to build and test the concept of something he calls “nurture capital” — a healthier and more sustainable alternative to venture capital for funding new businesses. It’s time, he says, to shorten the distance between investors and their investments. It’s also time, he says, to create new economic models that deliver a return but that also put community, soil fertility and the environment into the calculation of the bottom line.

In May 2009 Jeremy was invited by the Slow Money Alliance along with farmers, other entrepreneurs and investors to participate in one of a series of research and exploratory conferences to inform the the Alliance as to the most helpful direction they could take to further their mission. Though we had already determined our fund raising plan for The Meat Market, the Slow Money conference discussions this conversation validated our plan and deepened our commitment to raise money in ways that include and in fact depend on, community involvement.

We are raising funds in two ways: Founding Supporters and Partners. We will raise $50,000 through smaller investments by Founding Supporters, members in our community (geographical and personal) who, with their investment, are pre-purchasing products and services offered in the shop. Founding Supporters, in addition to raising capital, also act as direct marketers for the business. We know that once people taste the foods The Meat Market will offer, they will be enthusiastic customers: the Founding Supporters are our core customers, and they are heralds of the business as it gets off the ground. We are also seeking individuals as Partners , larger investors in the project, to share our mission of taking the goals of taste, quality, service and respect for the local environment into a brick and mortar reality.

The nature of investing in this way is in alignment with the principals set forth by Slow Money.

Soil fertility, carrying capacity, sense of place, care of the commons, cultural, ecological and economic health and diversity, nonviolence — these are the fundamentals of nurture capital, a new financial sector supporting the emergence of a restorative economy. And these are the fundamentals of the Slow Money Principles.

We are living in a time when large markets are revealing their problems, the issues of food safety, environmental degradation, and unstable markets make large scale farming in the United States obsolete.  We are fortunate that the tide is turing in favor of small and sustainable, more options are available to consumers who are looking for products that are healthy to eat, promote environmental heath, and support small farms.

A 2006 New York Times story- The Range Gets Crowded for Natural Beef- concluded:

“Organic meat is the fastest-growing segment of the $14 billion organic food business, even thought it represents only 2 percent . Last year, organic meat sales which includes poultry and fish, soared 55 percent, to $256 million from 2004, far faster then the overall organic food industry’s 15 percent annual clip, according to the Organic Trade Association.”

“George Chivari, president of Coleman Natural Foods, one of the largest producers of pasture raised meats, estimates that organic meat will account for as much as 25 percent of its sales by 2010, up from 12 percent this year, and 7.5 percent in 2004.”

Become a Founding Supporter, your taste buds, your body, and our farmers will thank you!