I recently wrote an article about wisdom, ingenuity, morals and investing for Blue&Green Tomorrow.

The first investment I ever made was $25,000 in Stonyfield Farm, an organic dairy in New Hampshire. It was 1983 and I thought I was making a loan to a non-profit. Gary Hirshberg and his partner Samuel Kaymen had a few cows, and they wanted to make some yoghurt and help prove that family farms could and should still survive.

Gary called me after my loan came in to the non-profit and said, “We’re going to start a business. Instead of a loan, would you invest that money?"

Thirty years later, Stonyfield is North America’s most successful organic yoghurt producer. Its popularity as an alternative to conventional dairy products means that many tons of hormones, antibiotics and pesticides have been prevented from entering the environment, and people’s bodies.

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