Episodes
How THE UK Events Industry Is Standardizing Dietary Needs Management
Here's something that doesn't get said enough: the biggest food allergy risk at your event doesn't start in the kitchen. It starts the moment your registration form goes live. To kick off Food Allergy Awareness Week, I'm gett...
Food Allergy & Celiac Awareness: Raising the Bar for Safer, Inclusive…
May is extra special for me—it's not only Food Allergy Awareness Month and Celiac Disease Awareness Month, but it also marks the 16th anniversary of thrive! meetings & events and the start of Eating at a Meeting’s seventh yea...
Food Allergies are No Joke
If you think serving one gluten-free vegan dish covers all your guests’ needs—or that “nut-free” labeling is enough to keep diners safe—think again. This episode dives deep into the most persistent myths and mistakes surround...
Fishing for Heritage: How Two Sisters Keep Tradition Alive
What does it really mean to source "Pacific salmon"?Kim Brigham-Campbell and Terrie Brigham are sisters, members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and co-owners of Brigham Fish Market—a Native-owned, family-run business on the banks of the Columbia River in Cascade …
How an Austin Woman Farman is Reshaping the Hospitality Food Supply
Anamaria Gutiérrez is 23 seasons into running Este Garden, a women-powered, one-third-acre urban farm in East Austin growing vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and fruit and nut trees for four restaurants: Suerte, Este, Bar T...
Local Ingredients Matter: Journey of Food from Farm to Event Buffet
It started as a kitchen garden. Nine acres. A favor from her husband. Today, Green Door Gourmet is 350 acres of certified organic farmland on the Cumberland River — one of the largest organic operations in Tennessee — growing...
How a FarmHER Feeds Music City: Bloomsbury Farm’s Impact on Nashvill…
What does it actually take to grow the food that ends up on a hotel banquet table or a farm-to-table dinner menu? Lauren Palmer has spent 17 years answering that question one harvest at a time. Lauren is the owner and farmer ...
Why Sustainable Event Menu Design Starts Outside the Kitchen
What if the most interesting ingredient at your next event was already growing just outside the venue?I've been thinking about this lately — and then Lotta Giesenfeld Boman introduced me to Lisen Sundgren, and honestly, she made it impossible to think about anything else.Lisen is my guest t…
Taste of Place: How to Use Event F&B to Celebrate Local Culture
What if your event menu was the most powerful branding tool your destination has?In this episode, Tracy is joined by Erik Wolf, Founder and Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association and the pioneer behind the global “Taste of Place” movement.We talk about why food and beverage…
Black History Month 2026: Designing Events That Honor Culture & Commu…
As we honor Black History Month’s centennial in 2026, I sat down with two powerhouse guests, Zoe Moore and Diane Brown, to discuss how event design can truly honor Black culture and community. Zoe, an Army veteran, certified diversity practitioner, and founder of Grow with Zomo, brings her expertis…
357: Why Non-Alcoholic Wine Matters For Inclusive Event Experiences
Dry January always gets me thinking about how poorly the event industry still does when it comes to inclusive beverage experiences. At one event where I was speaking about inclusive dining, everyone at the table was served sa...
How Inclusive Bar Design Improves Guest Experience and Event Revenue
If your event bar still treats non-alcoholic drinks as an afterthought, we need to talk. I’m sitting down LIVE with Kevin Morgan, Global Head of Tempo by Hilton and a 24-year hospitality veteran who has worked his way through...
355: When Event Catering Becomes Community Care: Food that Connects &…
When you’re in Philly for PCMA Convening Leaders, you don’t just grab a cheesesteak and call it a day. You pay attention to the food culture, the people behind it, and the stories that shape the city. And I couldn’t leave town without sitting down with one of the catering chefs doing exactly that.…
354: Event F&B: Designing Menus That Respect People & Ingredients
Imagine sitting down at an event, ready to enjoy dessert… and realizing the kitchen can’t tell you what’s in it.Tracy is joined by internationally recognized vegan pastry chef, cookbook author, and culinary educator Fran Costigan to talk about what should be one of the easiest wins in event foo…
353: Turning Surplus Prepared Food From Events Into Safe, Shared Meals
Last year, Les Dames NC selected Food Connection as one of three beneficiaries of our annual holiday cookie sale—and this conversation is exactly why.This is the third interview in my series spotlighting organizations that are feeding our communities with food that already exists… including foo…
352: How Event Food Can Feed Communities: The Javits Center Model
When I first toured the Javits Center rooftop farm back in October 2022, I walked past rows of lettuce, herbs, and apple trees on top of a convention center, tasted apples the chef had just brought down from the orchard, and went home with honey from the hives above the show floor. That visit compl…
351: Anaphylaxis And Events: Why Allergy Safety Can’t Be An Afterthou…
When Kerry Washington recently shared on Jimmy Kimmel Live that she often eats in bathrooms at high-profile events because her food allergies aren’t taken seriously, the allergy community felt it. And when FARE posted that clip, Jo Frost — who lives with life-threatening anaphylaxis herself — comme…
350: How Mobile Food Rescue Teams Are Saving Communities From Hunger
As 2025 closed, Tracy dedicated three episodes to something that matters deeply: the organizations feeding people who need it most.And we’re starting with one that’s rewriting what community feeding can look like in Florida.When the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL shared that…
349: Allergy Safety at Events: Why “I Don’t Think So” Isn’t an Accept…
When your food allergy becomes the reason you have to walk out of your own professional presentation, something is deeply broken. That’s exactly what happened to Christina LiPuma, MPH, RDN, CDCES, when she had a severe allerg...
348: The Transparency Movement: Why Menus are Becoming the Frontier G…
Imagine a world where every guest at your event—or every diner at a restaurant—can open a menu and instantly see what’s safe for them to eat. No guessing. No anxiety. No risk. That’s the world Dylan McDonnell, founder and CEO...
347: Nifty Method Marketing + Events
What happens when hospitality stops being about service—and starts being about care? That’s the question I’m exploring this week on Eating at a Meeting Podcast LIVE with Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey, CMP, CEO of Nifty Method Market...
346: Behavioral Science Meets the Buffet: How to Nudge Event Menus To…
What if one simple shift could make your event meals more inclusive, sustainable, and even more crave-worthy? This week on Eating at a Meeting Podcast LIVE, I’m talking with Chef Kent Buell , Culinary Director, and Taylor Flo...
345: Eat, Meet, Celebrate: What #EventProfs Can Learn from Scotland’s…
In this episode, Tracy chats with Flora Munro, Head of Events, Scotland at 2B UK, live from the IMEX America show floor to explore how Scotland’s hospitality, food, and culture create unforgettable event experiences. From cas...
344: How New Zealand Is Redefining Event Menus Through Culture and Su…
Recorded live from the 100% Pure New Zealand booth at IMEX America, this episode explores how Aotearoa is redefining event dining through connection, culture, and conscious hospitality.If “korero and kai”—making meaningful connections over shared meals—sounds like the event experience you want,…
