The convention center is already a leader in other environmentally friendly practices, including: recycling all paper, glass, plastic and corrugated materials; incorporating "day lighting" technology that utilizes sunlight filtered through 30-foot ceiling openings; individual temperature controls in each exhibit space and donating all non-consumed food to the local food bank. Now, the Chattanooga Convention Center Kitchen is getting into the act with a new program that offers convention and meeting attendees fresh seasonal produce, breads, meat, cheese, locally roasted coffee and 
other edible items from local and in-state purveyors.
"This is the first convention center that I’m aware of that has a program this extensive," declared Dexter King, Executive Director of the International Association of Assembly Managers. "Agriculture plays an ongoing, fundamental role in a community’s economic health and what the Chattanooga Convention Center is doing is a perfect example of sustainable growth.
A produce company serves as a broker between the Center and the local farmers and other food providers. Since the vast majority of larger meetings are booked well-advance, Convention Center personnel are able to conference with Meeting Planners and related executives to devises meals in accordance with produce availability during the month of their meeting. Other food items are obtained directly from the local bakeries and purveyors on an as-needed basis, but for produce, Food & Beverage staff provides the broker with their needs and the farmers can actually plant and harvest the specific produce to accommodate the Center’s clients.
"The Chattanooga Convention Center is committed to providing the best possible service and experiences to guests who attend events here," said Keith Quatrano, Executive Chef at the Chattanooga Convention Center. "We want to take it one step further and offer them fresh and local goods."
The Chattanooga Convention Center—and the city it calls home—is fast becoming a major Southeast Conventions and Meetings Destination. Not only is it one of the major metropolitan markets in Tennessee, it borders Georgia and Alabama and is within a two-hour drive from Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, Huntsville and Birmingham. The Convention 
Center features 100,800 square feet of column-free, day-lit exhibit space; offers in-house, comprehensive audiovisual support services; is surrounded by 2,000 downtown hotel rooms and an additional 7,000+ within 5-15 minutes from downtown. The venue is located on Free electric shuttle route and it’s within walking or shuttle distance of numerous restaurants, attractions, museums, galleries, shopping venues and entertainment venues.
The Chattanooga Convention Center Kitchen handles both smaller groups and luncheons to large banquets of 2,000. For Quatrano, the new fresh experience means that the dining experience at the convention center can now be held to the foodie standards available at many gourmet restaurants. "When you bite into a fresh tomato that was just picked within 24-72 hours, it’s a completely different taste than any tomato you buy in a store," he explained. "It’s bursting with a full, acidic flavor. A tomato you buy in the grocery store is distributed while still green – via truck from thousands of miles away. Then it sits in a warehouse until it’s delivered to the end customer. This produce takes weeks to get here and doesn’t have any flavor. I can get local produce within three days and I don’t have to sacrifice taste."
This commitment to flavor has inspired the Convention Center to excel in a the major complement of the appeal of Southern Meetings—regional gastronomy. "This gives me the opportunity to embrace Southern cuisine while 
incorporating local ingredients into the menus," added Quatrano.
Enhancing the dining experience of attendees, banquet servers advise the guests what they are eating and the details of where it came from – which farm, bakery or purveyor—during the meal. The Chattanooga Convention Center, in other words, has become of the few large meeting venues willing to boast about their food.
In addition, it has helped the venue—and the area’s meetings industry—to become a leading community member. "By incorporating these local products, we are linking conventioneers directly to the community while also stimulating our own local economy," said Quatrano.
"Chattanooga is to be commended for this innovative and proactive approach to sustainability," said King. "This takes strong relationships with community and agricultural partners and it’s a fabulous program that they are starting."
