According to Taryn Goodman, RSF's director of impact investing, food and agriculture businesses make up 30% of the firm's Social Enterprise Fund. In addition to companies like SPUD (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery), it includes loans to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association and Common Market Philadelphia, a food hub that also works in food deserts. The fund carries a $1,000 minimum and currently yields 1%.
The firm's PRI Fund, which was designed for foundations for whom the main purpose must be charitable, to date includes investments in two food hubs: Crown O' Maine and Philadelphia's Common Market. With a $100,000 minimum and 5-year lock-up, the return is 1%. But even with the higher risk/reward profile than the firm's Social Enterprise Fund, Goodman says one individual has insisted on investing. "He wants to invest his money to build a new food system," she says.
A former investment banker and veteran financial writer, Ellie Winninghoff's work about impact investing is linked at DoGoodCapitalist.com. She can be reached at: ellie.winninghoff (at) gmail (dot) com.