Kate Ruffing

Kate comes from a long, proud linage of Midwest farming families which, from an early age, deeply rooted her in agriculture, food and the environment. She spent 15 years in the Food and Beverage Industry where she worked in a variety of capacities including Operations, Research & Development and Marketing and Business Management. During that tenure she learned how modern systems work to bring products to market. But in a moment of inspiration spurred on by a brief encounter with Michael Pollen, she decided to “use her powers for good” and started her own company focused on bringing sustainable living solutions to others. Since then, Kate has combined her passions for the culinary arts and the environment in the way she lives her life. Kate and her husband have transformed their home (called “Camp 4”) into a “living lab” experimenting with different ways to live their life with lessened impact. As Kate explains, “Sustainable living is not about depriving yourself of modern conveniences, but rather substituting what you are doing for something a little more sustainable. There is a “level of green” that any of us can adopt. You just have to find out what works.” As a self-proclaimed, vertically-integrated, “foodie”, Kate enjoys exploring the not only the ways to shorten the path from farm to fork, but also how to affect all 4 Sustainable Living Pillars (the “4” in “Camp 4”) – Food, Water, Shelter and Community. Through her blog, web and social media sites, Kate brings a variety of possible solutions for living sustainably – from “light green” to “dark green”.