Eating at a Meeting

Global Perspectives on Creating Safe, Inclusive, and Sustainable Dining

Eating at a Meeting explores how food and beverage impact our lives, focusing on safety, inclusivity, and sustainability. Host Tracy Stuckrath talks with global experts to share practical insights on creating dining experiences that are thoughtful and transformative. Ideal for meeting planners, caterers, and anyone interested in the intersection of food, culture, and community.

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Recent Episodes

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Can an event menu be sustainable, safe for every guest, and still come in on budget?
386
Oct. 26, 2026

Can an event menu be sustainable, safe for every guest, and still come in on budget?

Can an event menu be sustainable, safe for every guest, and still come in on budget? F&B prices haven't come back down. Guests arrive with more dietary needs than ever, sustainability goals keep showing up in RFPs, and the budget didn't grow to match. So I brought Emily Thibodeau, CMP, CITP back to this week's Eating at a Meeting Podcast LIVE, and this time she brought her Maritz colleague Morgan McCracken, CMP. Emily is Vice President of Event Management at Maritz, where she and her team pla
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Beyond the alcohol-centric bar: the look and taste of inclusive hospitality
384
Oct. 20, 2026

Beyond the alcohol-centric bar: the look and taste of inclusive hospitality

Ever wondered what your guests notice in the first five minutes at the bar? I dive into how inclusive beverage programs are reshaping events, why the question “why aren’t you drinking?” matters, and where planners can find real bottom-line wins by moving beyond club soda and diet cola. You’ll hear what’s changing, what still needs fixing, and how to start upgrading your own bar experience.
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Zero Proof Choice Awards: What Makes an Alcohol-Free Drink Worth Serving
383
Oct. 5, 2026

Zero Proof Choice Awards: What Makes an Alcohol-Free Drink Worth Serving

Picture your opening reception. One guest is pregnant. Another is in recovery, another is training for a race, and another just doesn't want to drink tonight. What are you handing them? Too often it's still a soda, a bottle of water, or a sugary "mocktail" nobody planned and nobody wants to drink (yuck!) That's why I'm so glad Derek Brown and Laura Silverman are joining me on this episode. They just judged The Daily Pour's 2026 Zero Proof Choice Awards, blind-tasting hundreds of alcohol-fr
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Can Events Serve Food That Is Truly Good Clean and Fair?
382
Sept. 28, 2026

Can Events Serve Food That Is Truly Good Clean and Fair?

We ask a lot of the food at our events. We want it sustainable, inclusive, local, good for the planet and fair to the people who grew it — and then we hand the caterer a headcount and a budget and hope it all shows up on the plate. So what would it take to build an event where the experience itself actually lives out those values, instead of just claiming them on the website? One event has been answering that for almost 40 years — and every two years it shows the whole world how, at Terra
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Food Safety at Events: How to Balance Prevention, Compliance and Guest Trust
382
Sept. 21, 2026

Food Safety at Events: How to Balance Prevention, Compliance and Guest Trust

Event food safety is more than keeping up with recalls—it's a daily, strategic practice tied to compliance, prevention, and guest trust. I sat down with Doug Davis, who spent 17 years leading food safety for Marriott globally, to break down what planners can (and should) be asking for, how recalls get managed behind the scenes, what laws affect allergens, and why transparency and standards really do move the needle for guest safety.
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Zero-Waste Game Days to Green Meetings: How to Cut Event Food Waste
380
Sept. 14, 2026

Zero-Waste Game Days to Green Meetings: How to Cut Event Food Waste

In advance of Stop Food Waste Day on April 29, I chatted with Christy Cook, CEO of InvestHER Strategies. Christy has spent her career designing and scaling food-waste reduction programs for stadiums, universities, corporate foodservice, and large events—proving that cutting waste can also cut costs and elevate the guest experience. Today, we will chat about where food waste really happens at meetings and events, how to use data and design to prevent it, and why women leaders are reshaping ES
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About the Host

Tracy Stuckrath Profile Photo
Tracy Stuckrath

Founder and Host

Dietary Needs Expert. Meetings Industry Changemaker. Certified Special Events Professional. Tracy Stuckrath works with organizations and meeting planners worldwide to create safe, sustainable, and inclusive F&B events that deliver experiences where everyone feels valued. Every guest matters. Every meal matters.

Founder of thrive! meetings & events, and the Eating at a Meeting podcast, Tracy has had a 30+year career as an event professional. After being diagnosed with a food allergy, she changed the trajectory of her career in 2009 to help clients establish best practices, mitigate risk, improve experiences, and increase profit with the food and beverage they serve.

She has co-authored two books, published over 100 articles, and is recognized as a meeting and event industry leader, including Top 25 Women in the Meetings Industry and a Top 500 Event Professionals in North America.