

Eating at a Meeting
Tracy Stuckrath, CFPM, CMM, CSEP, CHC
Eating at a Meeting explores a variety of topics on food and beverage (F&B) and how they impact individual experience and inclusion, sustainability, culture, community, health and wellness, laws and more.
The mission of Eating at a Meeting is to share authentic stories that illustrate the financial, social, emotional, and mental impact food and beverage have on individuals, organizations, and the earth. I see it being threefold:
● Help individuals and organizations understand how F&B
impacts employee, customer and guest experience, the
planet and the bottom line.
● Help those growing, producing, preparing, and serving
F&B understand the duty of care they hold in food safety
and inclusion as well as the opportunity they have to
create experiences that are safe and inclusive.
● Support those with dietary needs by gathering their
insight on eating at a meeting with dietary needs,
helping them better advocate for themselves and
educating them on the processes found on the other
side of the kitchen door.
The mission of Eating at a Meeting is to share authentic stories that illustrate the financial, social, emotional, and mental impact food and beverage have on individuals, organizations, and the earth. I see it being threefold:
● Help individuals and organizations understand how F&B
impacts employee, customer and guest experience, the
planet and the bottom line.
● Help those growing, producing, preparing, and serving
F&B understand the duty of care they hold in food safety
and inclusion as well as the opportunity they have to
create experiences that are safe and inclusive.
● Support those with dietary needs by gathering their
insight on eating at a meeting with dietary needs,
helping them better advocate for themselves and
educating them on the processes found on the other
side of the kitchen door.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 12, 2020 • 35min
23: Is a Zero–Food Waste Conference Possible?
Reducing food waste isn't just about keeping food out of landfill - it's an essential part of creating a sustainable, resilient and inclusive food system, one that maximizes water and land resources, minimizes climate impacts, and makes the best use of the food we grow. Learn how using local sourcing, whole-product utilization, and lots of effort helped Jackie Suggitt and ReFed do it. www.refed.com https://twitter.com/refed https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-suggitt/

Nov 10, 2020 • 39min
22: Food Safety & Sustainability: Can they Coexist?
COVID-19 has brought food safety to the limelight while pushing sustainability to the wayside. But, can they coexist? Eric Wallinger, Director of Sustainability of MeetGreen says YES! In the conversation, learn how providing safe and inclusive food and beverage events in the middle of a pandemic can also be sustainable. Eric offers his advice and resourses to help event organizers maintain and increase their sustainability efforts. Useful Links https://meetgreen.com https://twitter.com/EricWallinger https://twitter.com/MeetGreen https://www.facebook.com/MeetGreen/ https://www.instagram.com/meetgreen/ Files Mentioned in the show: https://meetgreen.com/2020/06/safety-and-sustainability-in-2020/ https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Health-Expert-Statement_Final.pdf

Nov 5, 2020 • 39min
21: Encouraging Positive Relationships in and Around Food
Amelia Ekus is nourishing inspiration in the corporate cafés she manages by creating a honest, sustainable and inclusive food and beverage experiences while also doing everything in her power to give her team members the skills they need to grow in their careers, not just to succeed in their current positions. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliaekus/ https://twitter.com/ttention2detail

Nov 3, 2020 • 45min
20: Creating Inclusive F&B Events for Individuals with Disabilities
Providing inclusive food and beverage experiences is more than ensuring you have options for food allergic and vegan attendees. It also means making sure everyone has equal access to the event. Elisa Hays and I met at a convention luncheon where she did not have equal access. Learn how to ensure she does next time. We also talk how this impacts experiences during the COVID pandemic. Useful Links https://elisahays.com/ https://www.facebook.com/elisahays https://twitter.com/hi_elisahays http://linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&title=Home&url=https://elisahays.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/elisahays https://www.instagram.com/hi_elisahays/

Oct 29, 2020 • 30min
19: It's All About Equity
Thomas Silvera and his wife took a tragic incident to create the Elijah-Alavi Foundation to reduce the risk of life-threatening allergic reactions in children while they are in day-care and/or school. From food bullying to using epinephrine, labeling laws to legislation, training and more, Thomas talks with Tracy about the work the foundation does across the country to reducing risks. https://www.elijahalavifoundation.org/ https://www.facebook.com/elijahalavifoundation/ https://www.instagram.com/elijahsecho/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-silvera-cst-03aa9925/ https://www.servsafe.com/servsafe-allergens

Oct 27, 2020 • 33min
18: Catering for Food Allergies
April Cunningham, owner of April's Table Catering company talks about how she manages food safety regulations during COVID as well as accommodating dietary needs of her catering clients. How do you staff an event? How do you share your food safety practices? How do COVID and dietary needs mix? April's Table is a full service catering company offering quality food, locally sourced ingredients, and custom-designed menus to suit every event. https://www.aprilstable.com/ https://www.instagram.com/aprils.table/ https://www.facebook.com/AprilsTableCatering https://twitter.com/aprilstablellc https://www.pinterest.com/aprilstablellc/_saved/

Oct 22, 2020 • 46min
17: Farming's Heirloom Apparent
Stepheni Norton's journey from chief yeoman in the U.S. Coast Guard to Southern California community farmer of pre-WWII fruit, vegetables and herbs began with a dream … and an insect bite. As farmers, Stepheni and her husband Mike, are working to preserve community, local foods, cultures and traditions, and to ensure that everyone has access to good, clean, and fair food. They also offer what they call a FARMacy CSA, which offers members fruits and vegetables that meet anti-inflammatory, Candida, and diabetic dietary needs. https://www.wddickinson.com/ https://www.instagram.com/w.d.dickinson/ https://www.facebook.com/w.d.dickinson https://www.linkedin.com/in/stepheninorton/ https://slowfoodusa.org/ark-of-taste/

Oct 20, 2020 • 42min
16: Catalyzing on a More Sustainable Growing System
In 2012 Tinia Pina was volunteering for a SAT prep program in Harlem when she noticed that the food options available to the students — processed and fried — were not feeding them nutritiously to stay alert and the best chance to be productive. She an opportunity use a waste stream as a way to catalyze a more sustainable growing near the urban areas to create Re-nuble, headquartered in New York City, and enable farms to transform Food Waste into Plant-Based Fertilizer for Soilless Cultivation "We just want to do what's right for everyone....I'm in this business to get people to think and do differently for the benefit of the environment, for the benefit of people in nourishing ourselves." https://thrivemeetings.com/2020/05/making-fertilizer-out-of-food-waste/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiniapina http://www.farming.nyc/ https://www.re-nuble.com/ https://twitter.com/re_nuble https://facebook.com/re-nuble https://www.instagram.com/re_nuble https://www.linkedin.com/company/re-nuble.

Oct 15, 2020 • 36min
15: Equal Eating - What does that Mean?
Kyle Dine is an internationally trusted food allergy advocate, educator and performer. Having severe allergies himself and having "married into" celiac disease, he is very familiar with the struggles of communicating his dietary needs to people who are responsible for making and/or ordering food for him at restaurants and events. After experiencing the worst food allergy reaction of his life in 2005, he decided to begin helping other food allergic individuals avoid anaphylactic reaction like his by spreading food allergy awareness and education through music. https://www.kyledine.com/ https://equaleats.com/ https://www.instagram.com/equal_eats/ https://www.facebook.com/EqualEatsCo https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyledine/

Oct 13, 2020 • 40min
14: Event Planning with a Life Threatening Food Allergy
Dianne Davis owns an event planning business in Tulsa, OK that plans and executes events all across North America and the islands for corporations and associations. One of their specialties is doing events in nontraditional spaces. With a life-long allergy to tree nuts and medically-required avoidance to peanuts since the age of 4, she does not know what a peanut butter sandwich tastes like. "None of us that have this kind of allergy want to have this kind of allergy....I don't want to be made a big deal of, but it's so serious that we don't have a choice." In this episode, Dianne and I chat about the seriousness of food allergies, lack of safety in events around allergies, cultural and religious preferences, attending events with an allergy and advocating for ourselves. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianne-davis-92a5142/ https://twitter.com/dianneTulNet https://www.meetingstoday.com/magazines/article-details/articleid/30613/title/dianne-davis-helps-ex-inmates-make-the-break-from-prison


