by Jaqueline Pennington

Disclosure: UP editor Kristen Wile is a volunteer board member for Piedmont Culinary Guild.

Since 2012, Kris Reid has been an integral member of the Charlotte food scene as executive director of Piedmont Culinary Guild. PCG has created a platform for chefs, farmers, and other industry professionals in Charlotte to come together, pool resources, and have conversations around food sustainability, accessibility, and strengthening the local food economy. In tandem with her responsibilities at PCG, Reid also founded Total Hospitality Consulting. Her consultancy has offered support for events management, operational guidance, and industry recruitment for food and beverage outlets in Charlotte.

When a friend sent her an open position with Slow Food USA over the summer, however, she began to consider making a change. 

“I originally did not think to apply because Piedmont Culinary Guild is my baby, my community, and my network,” Reid says. “It’s everything and I couldn’t imagine stepping away from it, but as the few weeks went by before the deadline, I realized it would be an incredible opportunity to take my work to a much higher level.”

Slow Food is a global organization with the mission of bringing “good, clean, and fair food to all.” As executive director, Reid will be focused on sustainable food systems and advocating for the work being done by the slow food community. Slow food is defined as food that is prepared using traditional methods and high-quality, usually local, ingredients.

Reid will be working with regional chapters that engage their communities to champion Slow Food’s mission. She plans to focus on what she calls the three Cs: “Continuity of operations, chapter support, and connectivity,” she explains. “The network itself needs to be revitalized. A lot of the community work that’s been done over the years has kind of been shadowed by bigger programs and other objectives. It’s all very important work, but I’m very excited to get to showcase the important on-the-ground efforts that are happening around the country to support clean, fair food for all.”

Part of Reid’s role will be travelling to meet with the communities and chapters doing important work to promote better food systems around the country. She also hopes being based in Charlotte will positively impact and highlight change here as well.

“I definitely plan to be tapping into my existing network to help grow some of the ideas and concepts that I’m going to be trying to get off the ground,” Reid says. 

Reid is currently in the process of handing off her Total Hospitality Consulting clients, and passing the torch to the new executive director of Piedmont Culinary Guild, former vice chair of the board Laney Jahkel-Parrish.