Kalissa Regier, Laird, Saskatchewan

Kalissa Regier is a female food hero because she produces certified organic mixed grains and oilseeds near Laird, Saskatchewan where her family has been farming for 5 generations. In 2011, Kalissa started Hestia Organics, a line of organic grain products that are processed and packaged on site. Hestia Organics offers lentils, hemp hearts and flax at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market year round. This year, Kalissa will be expanding the product line of Hestia Organics to offer stone-milled flours from a variety of organic cereal grains.

Kalissa is an active member and former board member of the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Canada and represents the NFU in La Via Campesina, an international, grassroots mass movement of farmers’ and peasants’ organizations. She was also elected as a coordinator for the Civil Society Mechanism, a global representative body that coordinates participation of civil society in the newly reformed United Nations Committee on World Food Security and Kalissa represents civil society on the Advisory Group of the Committee on World Food Security.