Lisa Kivirist

Farmer, author, agriculture advocate, innkeeper, parent, passionate food preserver and zucchini enthusiast. Lisa Kivirist, deeply rooted and based on her family’s farm in southwestern Wisconsin, thrives on wearing multiple hats under the sustainable-agriculture umbrella.

Lisa is co-author with her husband, John Ivanko, of the cookbook, Farmstead Chef, which focuses on transforming traditional farmstead cooking skills for the modern kitchen gardener, urban homesteader and homestead cook. The duo also authored the award-winning book ECOpreneuring, which takes a fresh approach to entrepreneurial thinking and blends protecting the planet with small business pragmatics, and Rural Renaissance, which captures the American dream of farm living for contemporary times.

A leading national advocate for championing the inspiring story of women farmers, Lisa serves as a distinguished Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. She founded and directs and the Rural Women’s Project, a venture of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service, providing outreach and resources for women farmers and food-based business owners. Lisa also spearheads the initiative Plate to Politics, designed to help support more women to take on leadership roles in advocating for food-system change. Lisa writes a column spotlighting national policy issues for the Women, Food & Agriculture Network and is a lead writer for Renewing the Countryside, a nonprofit organization showcasing rural entrepreneurial- and agricultural-success stories.

A pioneer in green travel, Lisa and her family run the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed and Breakfast in southwestern Wisconsin, considered among the “Top Ten Eco-Destinations in North America,” and featured in USA Today, MSNBC, ABC news, Newsweek and numerous other media. Powered by 100-percent renewable energy, the Inn was the recipient of the Energy Star Small Business Network Award from the EPA and is an example of a "carbon negative" business, sequestering more carbon dioxide annually than emitted from its carbon-free operations. She and her family raise diversified produce for local sale with a specialty in leeks and garlic.

A longtime friend of the Hobby Farms family, Lisa has been writing for Hobby Farms, Hobby Farm Home, Urban Farm and the Popular Kitchen Series since 2005. Her topics range from luffa growing to rag-rug making to profiles of farmers across the country. She loves writing for Hobby Farms because these publications connect farmers like her with one another and help generate new ideas. “Opening up these magazines is like sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a kindred spirited old friend; I always walk away reenergized and inspired,” she says.

Lisa shares her farm with her husband, their son, a 10kw wind turbine and a flock of ladybugs.

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