Local currency supports local business in Western Mass

(For BALLE – Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) It’s not every day you can ask an American, “how do you like your new currency?” In Berkshire County, Massachusetts, however, people have been asked that question for eight years. That’s how long local businesses around the rural and mountainous county have been using the BerkShare…

#BALLE2014 Cooking Up Good: Food Shift

(For BALLE – Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) Too much fresh food heads to the compost too prematurely in the Bay Area while too many people go hungry. This is a problem that Oakland-based Food Shift is working to solve with their food recovery program, a process they incorporated into the 2014 BALLE Conference. We…

#BALLE2014 Cooking Up Good: Tina Tamale

(For BALLE – Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) Coordinating two-dozen local food purveyors for a conference is no small feat! But if anyone is up to the task it’s Tina Tamale. We chat with Tina ‘Tamale’ Ramos about her experience delivering the best handmade Oakland fare to the 2014 BALLE Conference, and her eight-year…