Co-founder of the Piedmont Culinary Guild in 2012, Kris Reid currently serves as its Executive Director. A native of Los Angeles, she received her culinary education in Guadalajara, Mexico, from The New School of Cooking in LA and holds two degrees from Johnson & Wales University.

Over the last eight years, she has been a passionate local food crusader in The Queen City – serving on the board for Charlotte Mecklenburg County Fruit and Vegetable Coalition, Slow Food Charlotte, and chaired the Food and Beverage Committee for Charlotte Clean and Green. In 2010, Kris was selected to be a Slow Food Delegate to attend Terra Madre in Turin, Italy for her work in community gardens in Charlotte.

In an effort to bring local food to institutional foodservice, Kris served as the Food Coordinator for Carolina Farm Stewardship Association from 2009 to 2015. In addition, she was the Executive Chef at Southminster from 2010-2014. There, she received the NC Leading Age Dining Services Award for her work, which included turning an institutional-style frozen food dining experience into a fresh food program that embraces cook-to-order restaurant style cuisine. While there, Kris also launched a community garden in collaboration with Friendship Gardens which has produced thousands of pounds of produce that has been shared between the Southminster and Friendship Trays kitchen.

Transitioning from institutional food service, Kris served as the Director of Operations for modPALEO – a Carolina-based, packaged meal service that offers a modern approach to maintaining balance and wellness through the power of real food.

Currently, Kris is beginning a new chapter, partnering in the launch of RAMPS (Risk Analysis Management Planning Systems), a full service HACCP consulting organization.

“I believe that everyone has the right to eat clean, unadulterated food that comes from local gardens and farmers they know” – Kris Reid