CO-FOUNDER & CHAIR

Dag Falck has been obsessed with health and food since childhood. After studying agriculture in Norway in the late 70’s he moved back to Canada, his birth country, where in 1989 he was offered a job as the first organic inspector for organic farms for BC’s Islands Organic Producers Association. He was keen to help establish credentials and integrity for the organic movement. Customers needed to have ways to tell if something was truly treated as promised, and organic certification based on standards was the way to do this. During the next 14 years

Dag inspected for multiple organic certification agencies and hundreds of farms and processing facilities.

In 2003 he was offered the first dedicated organic position for a large and successful organic company, to ensure the highest level of organic integrity. With the title of “Organic Program Manager” for Nature’s Path Organic Foods, North America’s largest certified organic breakfast foods manufacturer and brand, doors into the still young organic movement where opening.

After 18 years with Nature’s Path Dag has been involved with just about every aspect of organizing and maintaining the organic movement and industry.

Retiring from Nature’s Path in 2022 and taking a break from organic boards and committees he had time to reflect on how to best use the insights, learning and connections built over the last 32 years. This was what led to the founding of an organization dedicated entirely to organic consumers: Responsible Organic Customer Association or ROCA.

Organic Sector Leadership:

-President, Board of Director, Canada Organic Trade Association 2010 - 2019

-Board of Director, Organic Trade Association (USA) 2006-2009

-Vice President, Board of Director, Organic Trade Association (USA) 2014-2016

-Board of Director, Non-GMO Project 2008-2016

-Board of Director, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada 2005-2011

-Board Member, IFOAM Organics North America 2016-2019

-Voting Board member, Organic Value Chain Round Table 2006-2019

-Director, International Organic Inspectors Association 2001-2003

CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Matt Livingston is the executive director for ROCA. Prior to ROCA, Matt was a Principal Consultant for Anthesis Group, the largest sustainability consultancy in the world. In his time there Matt oversaw projects with a variety of food and beverage clients ranging from small to multi-national, this experience re-affirmed his belief that Organic needs more supporters. Before entering the consulting world Matt worked as the Senior Specialist of Mission & Strategy for Nature’s Path Foods where he was responsible for leading the company’s multitude of sustainability initiatives. Matt also formerly worked as Director of Sustainability at SPUD.ca where his team launched several industry-first and award-winning waste reduction programs. Matt spent his early career in the skateboard industry working as the impact manager for one of the founding B Corps, Comet Skateboards where he still serves as an advisor.

BOARD MEMBER & SECTRETARY

Michelle is a strategist, activist, and climate optimist! With a background in sustainability consulting and organic farming, her areas of expertise include purpose-driven business, impact communications, and sustainable food systems. Michelle is passionate about humanizing our response to climate change and amplifying the power of agriculture to change the world for the better. In her spare time, you can find Michelle recreating in the great outdoors!

BOARD MEMBER

Marla Carlson has worked in the organic sector in Saskatchewan since 2006 and has been eating organic food for longer than she wishes to admit! Her passion for organic food and farming has grown as her involvement in the sector deepened. Marla’s day job is with SaskOrganics’ as their Executive Director. In this leadership role, she is always looking for innovative ways to fulfil the organizations mission to cultivate a healthier world for the benefit of all through organic food and agriculture. Marla’s favourite project to help further this vision, hands down, is Abundance magazine, a quarterly opportunity to tell the good story organics has to tell in Saskatchewan, from seed to fork.

Marla is also Secretary to the Prairie Organic Development Fund and formerly was an observer on the Organic Value Chain Roundtable. She also serves as a director on two food related community initiatives in Regina – Every Bite Project and Food Regina. Marla has been a director with Organic Connections since 2011 and President since 2015.

BOARD MEMBER

Michelle grew up on a mixed operation farm in east central Saskatchewan, and her parents believed in doing things differently. Long before organic certification was well known, her parents made the decision to transition all their farmland to organic. She’s been learning the ins and outs of organic production since then.

Michelle attended the University of Saskatchewan and earned a BA in Political Studies. In the years following, she moved to Calgary and began a career in digital media and marketing. In 2017, she moved back to Saskatoon and in 2018, founded a tech and digital media company with three business partners.

Michelle learned a lot about managing a business through all its ups and downs. After five and a half years, she decided to embark on a new challenge and left the company to her business partners to manage. She had the opportunity to take on a new challenge as the Executive Director for SaskOrganics, and learned more about the organic industry from almost every perspective.

Her experiences have taught her many things about how our food system works, and how it does not. Michelle believes ROCA is a unique organization that fills a very important niche. She sees the opportunity to educate customers about what they support when they buy organic certified foods, and can connect people back to the ecosystems within which we must all live. Michelle appreciates the opportunity to join this organization and hopes to provide value to its important work.