Here's where I've been the last few days: Howenwald, TN. Albert Bates is one leading environmental light I met here. Also met the leaders of Gaia University, and several of their students. Among the organizers were members of The Farm, an intentional community founded by hippies a generation ago, who parked a bus here that they had driven from San Francisco. Interested in building an ethanol plant, a fabrication plant for low cost ethanol stills, or a farm based ethanol unit? Or maybe you want to create a green company incubator? A salvage and resale business? These were among the case studies attendees co-developed and will present tomorrow to the leaders of Howenwald for their critque. So, yes, the scene reflected the green counterculture and rural America. But also present were a financial advisor, and at least one private investor. C.A. Fitts, investment banker by trade, was an organizer. Financial Permaculture, then, represents the confluence of three streams: farm communities, ecological counterculture, and sophisticated finance. Philanthropy came into it as one way to get money into these innovative systems in support of sustainable community as things fall apart.
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