Eating at a Meeting

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

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/

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/

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.

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/

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

Chef Joel Schaffer and his wife Mary are Your Allergy Chefs. They are dedicated to providing tips, guidance, and resources for those with and/or provide food for individuals with food allergies, intolerances and/or other dietary needs. Using their own personal dietary needs and their culinary training they have create a thriving business educating hotels, chefs, cooks, food manufacturers on how to create delicous and safe food options for guests. In this episode, Joel talks about how restaurants, caterering and food service operators to revamp their menu items to easily accommodate guests with dietary needs. He also shares how best to eat out with dietary needs - great info coming from a chef and as someone with his own dietary needs. When he started as the Culinary Development and Special Dietary Needs Manager for Walt Disney World Resort they had ~66,000 food allergy requests. Years later, after creating and implementing a process and training for all staff, they were successfully serving over 300,000 food allergy requests. https://www.yourallergychefs.com/ https://www.facebook.com/yourallergychefs/ https://www.instagram.com/yourallergychefs/ https://twitter.com/Allergychefsinc https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-schaefer-ccc/

In her 2019 research, "Prevalence and Severity of Food Allergies Among US Adults" it was found that 1 in every 10 adults has a food allergies. Dr. Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH wants to make sure that the general public is aware of food allergies, and food related conditions, how common they are and how significant they are. These potentially life-threatening conditions should not be taken lightly. In this conversation we talk about the prevelance of food allergies, the need for workplace policies, public awareness, why there are so many food allergies, research and potential cures. Her passion and committment to help us all is very inspiring. "How do we make the workplace a place where they feel comfortable and confident and get the support and resources they need to even eat in their environment." Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, has more than 16 years experience as a board-certified pediatrician and health researcher and currently serves as the director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research (CFAAR), where she is actively involved in clinical, epidemiological, and community-based research. Dr. Gupta is the author of the Food Allergy Experience, has written and co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed research manuscripts and has had her work featured on major TV networks and in print media. Website: https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/cfaar/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/teamsoaar/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/teamsoaar/ Twitter https://twitter.com/soaar4research LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruchi-gupta-md-mph-9305b4a/ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2720064

Nina Curtis is Adventist Health, Roseville Campus Vitaliz Café and Culinary Arts department director and executive chef. She is passionate about cooking for others, putting love into every meal she makes because she is honored that people trust her to cook for them. There is a lot of responsibility cooking for others. As a chef means to compassionately work to service food items, provide food menus and engage guests with the highest form of presentation that meets most all guests' food needs; allergens, preferences, and more. "Think about it... what is going to be sat in front of me...as a professional chef, 'Is this the best that you could do?'" Her culinary career over the last 20 years includes working with The Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu, the Marriott Group, Hilton Hotels, Baxters, Manhattan Beach, the El Caballo, Oakland, Pure Food and Wine in New York, and the Springs Restaurant and Wine Bar in Los Angeles. She presents lectures and demonstrations on health, nutrition, and whole foods around the world. She has developed wellness training programs, set up kitchen operations, and has worked closely in conjunction with culinary master gardeners to develop seasonal garden-to-table recipes that are essential to having a delicious plant-strong culinary experience. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-curtis-67b917a/ https://thrivemeetings.com/2020/03/forging-a-plant-based-path-to-wellness/ https://www.instagram.com/botanicalchef/ https://medium.com/@HCWH/meet-americas-top-hospital-chef-a785fd816bc1 Nutritional Facts: www.nutritionafacts.org Pulses: www.pulses.org Oldways Whole Grains Council: www.wholegrainscouncil.org

In May 2020 during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees U.S. food regulations, announced temporary flexibility policy regarding certain labeling requirements for foods for humans during COVID-19. As a food manufacturer that makes superfood-based products, Colleen Kavanagh found of ZEGO Foods does testing and set quality standards for 400+ agricultural pesticides and toxins in the ingredients so that their products support the long-term health of our family and planet. The facility is also free from the top 13 allergens — peanut, tree nuts, milk (dairy), soy, egg, fish, shellfish, mollusks, sesame, lupin, sulfites, mustard, wheat — and no corn or corn derivatives are used on equipment, packaging or processing aids. In this episode, Colleen and I chatted about the FDA regulation and what it means to food production and safety for individuals with dietary needs. Links https://zegofoods.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ZegoFoods https://twitter.com/ZegoFoods https://www.instagram.com/zegofoods https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9caEodIwrGchJ8wsSZ4UdA https://www.linkedin.com/in/zegofoods https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/temporary-policy-regarding-certain-food-labeling-requirements-during-covid-19-public-health