Something as simple as rotator cuff surgery was enough to open my eyes on how different accessibility looks when you have a disability, even if it’s just temporary.
While you may be covering the bases for attendees with Type 2 diabetes already by offering healthy food options, those with the Type 1 form of the disease may need a bit more in the way of accommodations. Most of us have at least a passing knowledge of the most common form of diabetes, Type 2, in which the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin, or the person has developed insulin resistance. But Type 1, also known as Juvenile-onset diabetes, is generally much less well-known, with the possible exception of those who were fans of the Baby-Sitters Club young-adult series…
World Wildlife Fund Hotel Kitchen Program offers Guidance on how to reduce, recycle and repurpose throughout the event food chain Why would the World Wildlife Fund, get involved in what happens in hotel kitchens? After all, WWF is all about protecting species and habitats and natural resources conservation, not bagels, brioche, and breakfast buffets. But when you consider that World Wildlife Fund also aims to transform markets and policies to reduce the impact of the production and consumption of commodities, it starts to make sense. In the U.S. alone, we waste or lose 30% to 40% of all the food…
Parfaits are delicious, but with all the dairy and refined sugar, they aren’t always the healthiest dessert option. But with a few substitutions, they can be. If you were wondering if there is, in fact, a day for everything, Monday, November 25 should be proof positive that you’re right. Yes, Nov. 25 is National Parfait Day, and who would deny that the many-layered staple of group dining options — from airport grab-and-goes to conference buffets — is worthy of having its own day. It can be scrumptious; after all, the name literally is French for “perfect.” What’s not quite…
Sugar, like caffeine, is a go-to picker-upper for most meeting attendees. Hang around the edges of any meeting break buffet table and I guarantee that, sooner or later, you’ll hear someone half-jokingly talk about learning how to ride the caffeine and sugar highs just right to avoid jitters on one end, and the inevitable crash on the other. But it’s no joke for attendees who live with diabetes, for whom soaring or guttering blood sugar levels can be potentially life threatening.
A hotel chef spills the beans on how meeting and event planners can accommodate the ever-increasing requests for vegetarian/vegan options.
Recent Trend of Mocktails Might Rebuke the Statistic that 77% of Meeting Planners Think Alcohol is Important to their Events Though you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell by looking at the line for the open bar at the evening reception at (pick a conference, any conference), sobriety — or at least, a growing interest in going alcohol-free on occasion — is starting to be a thing. The movement, which arguably began to gain steam five years ago when people began taking the “Drynuary” challenge to go alcohol-free just for the first month of the year, now is going mainstream.…
World Food Day is Dedicated to Promoting Healthy Diets and Efforts to End Hunger Worldwide Meeting and event professionals generally think in terms pleasing discerning palates when planning event food and beverage needs, not ending hunger. Sure, attendees may get a tad peckish if the general session runs into the coffee break time, but serious, stomach-growling hunger tends to be a pretty rare thing. In fact, it’s much more likely you’ll have heaping platters of food going uneaten at the end of the buffet than it is to hear anyone complain that there wasn’t enough to go around. If only…
Before you can meet the dietary needs of those who prefer or require plant-based diets, you need to know all the different forms those who consider themselves to be “vegetarians” can take. “Do you have a vegetarian option?” These words once struck fear into the hearts of unprepared banquet servers and venue kitchen staff, who at best would scramble to whip up some brown rice and steamed broccoli in hopes that would satisfy the vegetarian conference-goer’s needs. With almost of fifth of the U.S. population either identifying as vegetarian or interested in going veggie at least part time (7.3 percent…
Food Safety Best Practices are Important to Help Protect Lives Facing a long checklist when conducting site-inspections—or booking caterers—event planners might overlook the issues of food safety and food allergens. But given the frequency of food recalls and outbreaks of food borne illnesses in recent years, its vital for event organizers to evaluate how suppliers tackle these issues, and not to shy away from asking questions about food safety policies and procedures. “The best question to ask is how they handle allergies,” said Jeff Sommer, executive chef, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, in Pendleton, OR. “You need to feel confident that…