... you invest in your local farm, in exchange for 5% off produce. Farmers get capital, and a guaranteed market.
There is already a small movement among the alternative ag people doing exactly this. The idea is to give the farmer a larger percentage of the consumer price while the consumer gets a 10-15% break. And it works if the farm is close enough to a large enough population so the numbers all work out.
The sad fact seems to be the vast majority of consumers are perfectly happy eating rubbery vegetables and fatty meats. A doo run-run-run, a doo run-run
Cow Shares
but they're on the right lines...
The idea originated in the celebrated case of Deli Dollars in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. When a local delicatessen owner was refused a bank loan to finance an extension, he turned to his clientele. He issued "deli dollars" - refundable over the course of the following year - to the value of $5,000. In this way, his customers pre-financed the extension. In return, he was guaranteed $5,000 worth of custom and his delicatessen grew even more in the affection and esteem of its local community. What is more, the deli dollars started doing the rounds as an alternative currency, even turning up in the collection plate of a local cleric who was known to have a taste for the deli's pizzas.
I really like the idea of asset-backed currencies. A doo run-run-run, a doo run-run
I'd prefer interest paid in cheese if that's OK. -----sapere aude
The sad fact seems to be the vast majority of consumers are perfectly happy eating rubbery vegetables and fatty meats.
"People are stupider than anybody." -Tom Lehrer, Interview in The Onion AV Club. -----sapere aude
