Peaches from Stocking’s stand outside of Sultan.

[ Welcome Crooks & Liars readers! Welcome, Naked Capitalism readers! I'm going to sticky this as Plantidote of the Day. Peaches! --lambert]

The fab GF loves peaches. We’ve had several already and even made grilled peaches by blanching them, drop a bit of butter on the top along with a dusting of sugar and cinnamon, and tossing them on a hot grill three minutes top, one minute bottom to warm up and carmelize before putting them in bowl with whipped cream.

Redundant? Yes. That is what we call hedonism. Get used to it. Damn, that was good especially with a glass of cheap Lindeman chardonnay (I don’t like most chardonnays, but those Aussies know how to make an honest white wine). Wine is one of th few things we buy that isn't from around here, unless it's Moore Cellars (which is Dave Moore's tiny little winery in Lynnwood) because that guy is a goddamn genius.

I baked the last of the bread dough for buns for the buffalo brats from Kelso’s Kustom Meats in Snohomish. One of those and some green beans from Bailey’s stand for dinner and a piece of peach cobbler for dessert. I got the cobbler recipe from AllRecipes.com instead of the usual one. No one can say I don't take cooking risks.

So that’s the peaches...

I’ve been pondering the idea of local investment for a long time. Buying local is not the same as investing local.

Depositing your money in a local bank or credit union isn’t investment either. An investment means cash, credit, goods, services, or sweat in exchange for owning a piece of someone else’s effort. You invest with the idea that you will see a material gain, usually without being involved in day-to-day operations.

It’s the local part of local investment that throws me. I know a lot of people who have projects they’re looking to get financed. They’re not asking me for money, at least not directly. They’re asking me for advice. As in, “How do I get the money?” This is often a way of asking me to find them money. For some reason, people think I have access to Bill Gates’s piggy bank or I made it big in the porn industry (everyone thinks I make porn, which I don’t and there’s no money in porn unless your brand hits it big now anyway) or I rob banks or something. Which I don’t. I know some venture capitalists (I’ve never done business with them) and my entertainment attorney has offered to set up some meetings (I haven’t taken him up on that yet), but this is nothing out of the ordinary for people who have been in business for as long as I have and do the kinds of things I do.

But of all the ideas I’ve heard, not one has interested me enough to go beyond answering some questions. I’ve been hired to write business plans and I’ve written my own (I’m supposed to be writing one now), but not once have I been even remotely tempted to kick in with someone as business partner, investor, nothing. Not once. (I have picked up partners for a couple of my projects, but we’re not talking high-buck.)

So when I look around for examples of local investments, I get stuck. Why would I care about this? I mean, most people are having a hard time making ends meet, right? Well, yes and no. Some people are realizing that they will never be able to save enough to pay for their retirement or health care bills, or their kids’ education. They’re looking to put some money somewhere so it can work for them. On the other hand, there are people with the skill, talent, and ability to start their own businesses, but the only capital they have is their own hard work.

So why not bring these two lucky kids together? No one will get stinkin’ rich, but we’re not talking about stinkin’ rich. We’re talking about opportunity and planning. The profit may be slim, but it’s still profit and that matters. And why not bring two locals together to support the local economy?

Food-based businesses appear to be an obvious path for a local business investment opportunity. Specialty or artisan bakeries, butchers, and cheesemakers, or cafes and restaurants, or craft breweries and distilleries, and so on. Yet few people looking for money have actually done their homework: What are your startup costs? What are you selling? What’s your market differentiator? What’s your breakeven? These questions are common to any business endeavor.

But the biggest issue has to do with risk/benefit. The risk is greater for a small café as it is a for a fast food empire, and the potential benefit, the payoff, for one is much smaller than for the other. Also, one can use its size to smooth out any short-term losses. Let’s say you have $5,000 to invest. You can invest in Jill’s Café, a small fresh-food operation, or you can invest in Megabeefasaurus, with thirty-four locations. Jill’s Café may be the better restaurant, but it isn’t the best investment. If Jill gets hit by a bus, you lose your $5,000. If the president of Megabeefasaurus gets hit by a bus, some other suit is ready, willing, and able to step in (not to mention the payout from Key Man insurance that Jill couldn’t afford). Yes, this is a dramatic example, but the point is the same: it doesn’t take much to derail the small operation.

And would the payout be better? You may be able to buy more importance at Jill’s, but would you profit enough to make the risk you’re taking with your $5,000 worthwhile? Probably not.

So a local investment requires something to either offset the risk or make the risk palatable. Low start-up costs may be one, though I know people who don’t see this as a benefit---has to do with sharing risk, or the perception of shared risk, as well as dilution of partnership or share. The “local” part of the local investment may be a benefit, though that could also work against you. Imagine owning an artisan bakery and your “silent partner” drops in everyday.

And yet I sense an opportunity here, one that serves to put people to work running their own businesses and put people’s money to work so they can see a fair return. I’m still puzzling it out. I think, though, that our buying local food is connected with the idea of local investing. Yes, my thoughts here are a veritable cobbler---and cobbler is, as we all know, failed pie: dough and fruit cobbled together with sugar and baked to deliciousness.

So it ain't pie*. But let's hope it's worth sharing.

*"It ain't pie" is a famous Bureau of Occult Occurrences (B.O.O.) phrase, which means, "It doesn't totally suck, but it could be better." It is often used outside of ghosthunting activities, though saying "It ain't pie" on a walkie-talkie when standing ten feet away at two o'clock in the morning would win you some serious accolades from the organization, accolades being another word for, "Here, have another B.O.O. sweatshirt."