Shoestring Slow

I have my boots, Mom. Can we go outside?

This spring, we're going to be making a concerted effort toward more outside learning. When we began homeschooling in September, there were several warm weeks which made it possible for us to walk to the local conservation areas.

We have many, world-class nature areas here. For example, the oldest fossil reef on the planet is a 15-minute walk from our door. Scientists come from around the country to study our fossilized reef. How can you pass up a learning opportunity like that?

Today's kids are nature-starved. Even in our rural town, the lack of sidewalks makes it difficult for kids and families to walk to parks and fishing areas easily. In the winter, (especially this winter with weeks of below-zero temperatures and heavy snows), it was easy to stay inside watching documentaries and reading books, but our moods suffered for it. Everyone was more irritable. I even heard the dreaded B-word... "bored."

We did indeed go outside today. With the temperatures finally reaching the low 50s, Gavin even decided that the boots were optional. We played in the last of the snow and tidied up all of the detritus that ends up on the deck and around the house over the winter (like an old cardboard circle from a pizza buried under two feet of snow). If it's anywhere above fifty near you... see you outside!

Remember the fast-money '80s? We steeped our culture in excess and conspicuous consumption, and never quite backed off from that push for more, more, more. After watching the stock market (and your retirement fund) rise and fall over the last few decades, you won't be surprised to hear that money moves fast. But have we ever stopped to ask if it should?

Woody Tasch's book, Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money, from Chelsea Green Publishing, examines how the speed and disconnectedness of our financial systems has led to the distancing of people from their communities and their land, and the demise of rich culture.

Your first thought might be towards that investment fund you've heard about which takes social mission into consideration. Yet even socially-conscious funds are often fraught with compromises intended to wring profits instead of grow communities.

Like shallow-organic farming practices, which turn back to huge conglomerates to provide "natural" solutions instead of going straight to nature -- this kind of investing eventually looks just like the traditional missionless money management. The changes needed are more sweeping than simply adding a few token "responsible" companies to a hedge fund, much like spreading "greener" chemicals on a garden will simply not be a viable long-term solution to soil health.

The book is streaked with fascinating (and alarming) facts, like:

"To make the list of the top twenty-five hedge-fund managers in 2002 required personal compensation of at least $30 million; in 2006, $240 million."

"Despite a tenfold increase in pesticide use since 1945, crop losses due to pests have almost doubled."

"The industrialization of food production -- large-scale monoculture, genetically modified varieties, and the consolidation of seed production by agribusiness companies -- has resulted in dramatic declines in the biodiversity of cultivated crops.... 95 percent of cabbage, 91 percent of corn, 94 percent of pea, and 81 percent of tomato varieties were lost during the twentieth century."

If that last quote doesn't shame the average home gardener into vowing to cultivate and heirloom plant or two this year, nothing will.

So what can we do, as investors, to stop the gush of health, safety, and community out of the broken faucet of our financial system? Tasch proposes a new Main Street Exchange in which small, local, and slow businesses are the targets for investment and venture capital. Dollars that go into the system are still expected to generate returns; however, the focus is on enriching communities and helping often-overlooked small businesses achieve their goals.

Imagine if you were able to put the same amount that you invest yearly into detached, faraway corporations into a local co-op six miles away. You could become familiar with your investment, their success would directly benefit your community, and you might even find that they have the best rhubarb you've ever tasted. All of that in addition to your yearly return on investment. You might start to find, like Tasch, that "air, water, and soil are the currencies of our future."

It might not be fast, but it feels right.

Superfoods are purported to help the body shed harmful compounds like cholesterol, and acts as an antioxidant, lowering blood pressure, and even contributing to higher metabolism and weight loss.

Right now, the anecdotal evidence is winning out over scientific studies, so you may see the term "superfood" widely used in food marketing without really indicating any concrete benefit. But the proof is in the pudding (or perhaps the pumpkin, in this case), and in that vein, our family is planning to eat a week's worth of superfoods to see how much better we feel (and how costly a superfood diet really is).

This week: A week's worth of superfood meal planning.

One of the big questions facing us today is how to get the most value and best health benefits from our daily meals. With three meals a day stretching out into infinity, there's a tendency to slide into bad habits in our food preparation. It's time to step back and see our meals as an opportunity to trim budgets and buy with community in mind.

Our family eats primarily vegetable- and chicken-based meals (since I'm not particularly fond of red meat, and I'm the cook), so for us, beef is a once-weekly event. If your household tends to pick red meat frequently, it might be worth substituting another entree in a couple of those meals for heart health.

So tonight is beef night... what should you get? Shoulder roast is a tougher cut of beef that benefits from long, slow cooking. It's a less-pricey option that goes a long way. And for simplicity, you can't get much more basic than using your slow cooker.

For example, this recipe for Slow Cooker Pot Roast just asks you to put meat, veggies, and seasonings into a slow cooker and leave it for six hours. Let me repeat that. Put meat and vegetables into a crock pot on high. Leave. Could that be any easier? The only trick is remembering around lunchtime to start cooking.

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast
From Everyday Food magazine, Serves 8

Ingredients
1 tablespoon cornstarch
8 medium carrots, cut into thirds
2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 beef chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions
1) In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

2) Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).

3) Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices.