Eating at a Meeting

After years of participating/attending food and beverage festivals and not seeing themselves represented, restaurateurs Subrina and Chef Gregory Collier decided to start their own. Eighteen months later the Bayhaven Food & Wine Festival was born, celebrating Black culture. "highlighting the richness of Black culinary traditions and advancing Black cuisine in innovative ways." Listen in as Tracy is chats with them at the beginning of Women's History Month about how they were inspired by women in their own families. Useful Links www.leahandlouise.com https://www.facebook.com/leahandlouise https://instagram.com/leah_and_louise Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

As an Ecuadorian anthropologist, writer, and filmmaker Pilar Eguez Guevara uses her independent food education and media company to highlight the value in the local knowledge about food. Carried and preserved by elders through food traditions, she create spaces of belonging through the empowerment that comes from the access to knowledge about the value of traditional foods. Join Tracy and Pilar as they discuss how understanding and respecting traditional food knowledge is a way to re-generate or recover a sense of belonging, self-appreciation, pride and self-worth through our cultural traditions. Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

Did you know that wine, beer, and spirit manufacturers are not required to tell you what's in their products? It's true. Amanda Thomson, CEO, and Founder of Thomson & Scott Noughty Alcohol-Free Wine wants to change that - especially at it relates to wine. On Wednesday, March 9 for Women's HERstory Month, I'm chatting with THE woman taking the wine world by storm with her organic, alcohol-free, vegan, halal, no-added-sugar wine while also leading the movement toward greater transparency in wine labeling. Amanda's grit, tenacity, and hugely ambitious vision has landed her as Business Insider's Coolest People in Food and Drink, an EY Winning Woman in Business, and Le Cordon Bleu Paris award for Best Wine Concept. Join me as Amanda and I chat about why we should all care about what's in our wine, who and what inspires her and how she works to amplify other women in business. Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

To kick off Women's HERstory month, Tracy is chatting with Jamie Gonzalez, aka the "Puta De La Fruta," who has, since 2020, partnered with over 50 organizations to distribute more than 3 million pounds of food. With the mantras "Everybody Eats" and "Cultivating Community" she is using her voice and her experience to help people find pathways to quality, affordable, and healthful food choices. Her professional and philanthropic feeding efforts — and actions — are creating private-public partnerships that show there are better ways to feed people, while promoting accessibility, supporting an equitable food system and the economic stability of local food economies, and creating meaningful experiences with produce. Listen in as Tracy and Jamie talk about how she got here, her greatest accomplishment (so far) and how she intends to continue to ensure that everyone has the right to have the same access and meaningful experiences with food. Useful Links https://marketbox.big-state-produce.com https://www.instagram.com/putadelafruta/ https://www.facebook.com/putadelafruta/ www.linkedin.com/in/putadelafruta https://www.instagram.com/bigfreshmarketbox/ Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

Who says that eating plant-based cannot have flavor? I am sure there are a lot of people who do, but not Chef Robin Asbell. A vegetarian since 1980, Robin is the least preachy veg-head you know. Most of her friends are omnivores and she cooks meat for her private clients. She is more into living it than talking about it at parties and really believes that teaching people to enjoy eating more plants and less meats is going to have a bigger impact than pushing strict rules on people. Fun Fact: Robin is probably the first chef to teach Tracy about the nutritional aspects of juicing 8 years ago when she taught a cooking class in Atlanta. Listen as Robin and Tracy catch up and chat about how every cuisine or style of cooking can easily be adapted to have delicious whole grain and plant-based options on the menu — even barbecue and burger joints. Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

Coming Live from Las Vegas on the final day of PCMA Convening Leaders, Tracy reports on what she saw and heard about food and beverage at the convention, around town, and through the convention partners who are showcasing their cities. Tracy covers presentation styles, labeling, room sets, and ancillary events. She even takes a tour around the main area of the show so you can see how it is set-up. Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

Kicking off the 2022 talking about and celebrating veganism and how it can help us be better stewards for our planet. Who better to help me do this than Veganethical food advisor Chantal Cooke . Her 30+ years as an environmental journalist, founder of UK's only ethically focused radio station PASSION for the PLANET, a long time vegetarian/vegan, she is a wealth of knowledge to start the year and Veganuary. Tune in to listen as Chantal and Tracy chat about why moving to plant-based eating so important, how we can make it easier for caterers to meet the needs of vegetarians and vegans, pet-hate for veggies/vegans and probably SO much more. # EatingAtAMeeting #EveryMealMatters #Veganuary #Vegan #MeetingProfs #EventProfs #Catering #PassionForThePlanet #FoodService Connect with Chantal Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

To truly create safe, inclusive, and sustainable food experiences, we must take into account all the other human and non-human inputs along the food supply chain. Using their experience running a global corporate food program and their appreciation and advocacy for local and sustainable food system, McKenzie Phelan and Meghan Shellenberg founded Foodmuse. Through their food and beverage design agency they help organizations create dining programs that are connected to their local food systems while addressing other inputs in the supply chain. Join Tracy on Wednesday, December 1 at 12PM when she chats with McKenzie and Meghan on how to and why we must create food programs, including meetings and events, that support small farmers and producers, promotes regenerative eating, and directs money back into local communities. Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

What do you get when you provide a safe dining experience for someone with food allergies? An inclusive experience in which everyone can enjoy a meal with together without anyone going hungry. If you are a #foodservice outlet or an #event, adding those two types of experiences together — safety + inclusion — you gain potential for increasing your revenue. You see, individuals with #foodallergies and other dietary needs are VERY loyal. Debbie Bruce, founding member and current Director of the Canadian Anaphylaxis Initiative (CAI), can attest to that herself. For the past 30+ years she has collaborated with community partners, businesses, all levels of government and advocacy groups to draw attention to anaphylaxis issues and to improve the everyday safety, inclusion and quality of life for the 3 million Canadians living with Anaphylaxis. Her background in the packaged goods industry (production, purchasing and marketing), collaboration with community partners, and as the mother of two boys with multiple food allergies, she has seen how being improved safety measures, menus that offer options for everyone and can lead to higher profits. Join Tracy and Debbie on Wednesday, December 15 at 12PM on #EatingAtAMeeting LIVE as they discuss how creating safe and inclusive dining experiences can improve the bottom line. Connect with Tracy: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting thrivemeetings.com

When contacting a hotel or other venue to hold a meeting/event there is usually a food and beverage (F&B) contract clause that stipulates the group must spend a minimum amount of money on F&B during the event, providing a source of revenue for the venue. And, if the group doe not generate the contracted amount, it will responsible for making up the difference. These are "standard" clauses, if you're in the industry. But what is the standard now after/during the pandemic? What has to be negotiated as it relates to food and beverage sourcing? What about staffing? Room sizes? Ordering deadlines? Is food service being provided in-house or by a third party? Joan Eisenstodt, respected meetings industry veteran, and Tracy as they chat about new clauses we've seen in hotel contracts and the things that we may have to consider when contracting a property. Disclaimer: Neither Joan nor Tracy are engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or professional services through this presentation. If expert assistance is required, the services of a professional should be contracted. https://twitter.com/joaneisenstodt https://linkedin.com/in/joaneisenstodt/ Connect with Tracy: Want more Eating at a Meeting? Join the Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/EatingataMeeting Need an interactive and entertaining speaker, hire Tracy: thrivemeetings.com