Financiers Seeking Sustainable Farms

A conscientious finance firm is taking a look at agriculture, and telling its investors to do the same. RSF Social Finance believes that investing in sustainable farms or food groups focused on community have a lot to offer and will be around in the long run.

This is a good omen for farmers who are putting their heart and soul into working the land now, who may not be seeing frequent paydays.

Here’s some more information from the Civil Eats blog:

RSF Social Finance, a non-profit financial firm focused on using money as a force for good in the world, has announced the launch of a new Food & Agriculture Program-Related Investing (PRI) Fund. The idea is to encourage investors to support elements of the agricultural and food sectors that look beyond the bottom line to take the health of our environment and communities into account.

Of course caring about more than profit means returns might be more modest than investors are used to, but that is exactly the idea. The firm designs its strategies to capitalize on the benefits of employing “patient capital,” a term that refers to the long-term, slow-building nature of these investments.

And “patient” seems like just the right concept to apply when talking about the project of growing and providing food. Investors who don’t appreciate the slow and cyclical nature of food production—like investors in search of fast and massive returns who were disappointed at the prospects on display at the recent Agricultural 2.0 investment conference—need not apply. RSF Social Finance is more interested in those who see patience—both in creating food and in building wealth—as a good thing.

More…

Related posts:

1. SARE Grants Available for Sustainable Ag Efforts
2. Cultivating Success: Sustainable Agriculture Course Starting January 12
3. Vertical Farming Offers Sustainable Food Supply

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