Beyond Data Management Podcast

Cameron Garrison

The definitive podcast for government data management and stories from the field - with a special focus on Environment Health professionals.

  1. 4d ago ·  Video

    A 1906 Food Safety System Meets AI | Steven Mandernach | ep61

    Food safety is being asked to operate in two eras at once: a meat-inspection framework rooted in 1906 and a fast-emerging world of AI, connected data and mobile tools. Recorded at the 2026 WAFDO–CEHA–Rocky Mountain Food Safety Mega Conference in the Denver area, Cameron Garrison sits down with Steven Mandernach, Executive Director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), for a wide-ranging look at the forces reshaping food regulation. They unpack the Farm Bill, CBD and Delta-8, MAHA priorities, GRAS and ultra-processed foods, imported shrimp, meat-inspection modernization and the economics behind rising beef prices. Steve also explains why the summer Cyclospora outbreak was so difficult to trace, what public-health agencies learned from it and why prevention remains essential. The conversation then turns to execution: root-cause analysis for repeat violations, AI-assisted qualitative analysis, FDA–state data exchange modernization, mobile-first inspection workflows and the shift from monolithic applications toward connected mini-apps. They close with the new 2026 FDA Food Code, the hidden food-safety work behind FIFA, the Olympics and national political events, and AFDO’s upcoming virtual Inspector Boot Camp. 0:00 Show open 0:16 Live from the WAFDO–CEHA Mega Conference 0:50 The conference circuit and Washington policy work 1:18 AFDO legislation clears the Senate HELP Committee 2:17 Why the Farm Bill remains stuck 3:55 CBD, Delta-8 and the cannabis loophole 5:49 MAHA, GRAS and ultra-processed foods 6:37 The one food bill that might move: imported shrimp 9:13 Beef policy and state meat-inspection programs 10:29 Rethinking an inspection system built in 1906 12:12 Cattle supply, processing capacity and food prices 14:19 The massive Cyclospora outbreak 16:39 Why Cyclospora is so difficult to trace 19:35 CDC turnover, FoodNet and lessons from the outbreak 20:52 Root-cause analysis and repeat violations 21:32 How AI is accelerating food-safety data work 23:31 FDA modernization, SFDX and better work planning 25:09 Human-centered tools for inspectors in the field 27:24 From monolithic systems to connected mini-apps 27:57 Conference momentum and regulator training 28:25 The 2026 FDA Food Code arrives early 29:36 Protecting food at FIFA, the Olympics and national events 31:50 Election turnover and food-policy uncertainty 32:57 State-level MAHA laws and the preemption question 35:06 What comes next for AFDO and HSGovTech 35:55 AFDO’s virtual Inspector Boot Camp 36:37 Closing Guest: Steven Mandernach, Executive Director, Association of Food and Drug Officials Host: Cameron Garrison Recorded at: 2026 WAFDO–CEHA–Rocky Mountain Food Safety Mega Annual Education Conference Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of public health, regulation, data and technology. #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #ArtificialIntelligence #FoodRegulation #AFDO Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  2. Oct 20 ·  Video

    Food Freedom, MAHA and the State-by-State Fight Over Food Safety | Doug Farquhar

    Why do some states embrace “food freedom” while others stick with strict regulation? And why do red and blue states often end up facing the exact same food safety problems? Doug Farquhar, JD, Director of Government Affairs for the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), joins Cameron Garrison live from the WAFDO / CEHA / Rocky Mountain Food Safety Conference Mega Conference in Denver. With more than 30 years working with state legislatures, Doug breaks down: Why there’s no single federal environmental health law How and why states adopt (or don’t adopt) the FDA Food Code The rise of Food Freedom laws and unregulated food sales MAHA-style legislation showing up in unexpected states The difference between a cottage-food cupcake exemption and retail raw milk or unregulated meat How state budgets and healthcare costs are quietly reshaping public health priorities This is a clear-eyed look at the real policy landscape environmental health professionals, regulators, and industry are navigating right now. Featured guest: Doug Farquhar, JD — NEHA CHAPTERS 0:00  Cold Open: Red States, Blue States, Same Problems 0:34  Podcast Opening 0:46  Live from the Denver Mega Conference 1:24  Why Environmental Health Organizations Need to Collaborate 2:53  Finding Common Ground Across a Fragmented Field 4:19  Doug Farquhar’s Path into Environmental Health Policy 5:24  How Environmental Health Became Its Own Field 5:45  AFDO Midroll: Free E-News and Quick Bites 7:13  The Patchwork of Federal Environmental Health Authority 8:00  Why States Do Not Use the Same Food Code 9:02  Political Support, Budgets, and Delayed Adoption 9:52  How State Political Systems Shape Public Health Law 11:01  Mississippi and Iowa Lead on the EPA Lead Rule 11:49  Why the Real Policy Action Happens in the States 12:30  MAHA Laws, Food Dyes, and Nutrition Training 14:33  Red and Blue States Confront the Same Health Problems 15:03  Mississippi Tackles Childhood Obesity 15:54  How Health Costs Changed State Priorities 17:11  Michelle Obama, RFK Jr., and Overlapping Messages 18:32  Why New York Still Uses the 2001 Food Code 19:27  The State Backlash to FSMA 21:15  Federal Funding as a Policy Lever 22:15  Adoption of the 2026 Food Code 23:30  Food Freedom and the Growth of Unregulated Sales 24:17  The Michigan Cupcake Bill 24:50  Raw Milk and Unregulated Meat in Retail Stores 26:04  Food Sovereignty and Political Role Reversals in Maine 27:23  Why Political Alliances Shift by Issue 28:01  Closing and Doug’s Second Keynote of the Day Learn more about NEHA: https://www.neha.org AFDO E-News & Quick Bites: https://www.afdo.org Beyond Data Management Podcast: https://www.hsgovtech.com/bdmpodcast Got a story or episode idea? Beyond@HSCloudSuite.com Subscribe for conversations with the people on the front lines of environmental health, food safety, and public health policy. #EnvironmentalHealth #FoodSafety #FoodFreedom #PublicHealth #MAHA #FoodCode #NEHA #AFDO #BeyondDataManagement Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  3. Oct 16 ·  Video

    A Mouse Baked Into Sliced Bread | and 170 Other Things Environmental Health Handles.

    Special Friday drop and the first full check flight from the new permanent studio. Cameron sits down with Adam Smith of HS GovTech for a look at the show heading into 2027, the rebuilt HSGovTech site, and why environmental health is set up to lead the next wave of regulatory tech. They open on three studios in two years, the road sets from NEHA Phoenix and Kansas City, and the elevator moment in Denver with Rebecca from Garfield County. The show is past 8,000 subscribers. Adam walks through the new story form so inspectors can submit what they have seen, on camera or anonymous. The example that still sticks: a mouse baked into a loaf of bread, then sliced. The fingertip in the salad is the runner-up. Then the site. Adam quarterbacked a rebuild that is a resource, not a sales wall. The catalog shows more than 170 regulatory program areas on HS Cloud Suite, each clickable. Cameron on why EH workflows are more complex than building and planning, and how Maine’s agriculture work led the Gaming Commission to the same platform. Implementation lessons from neighboring agencies. More than 1,100 agencies on the suite. Coming on the blog: a plain-English guide to the new FDA Food Code and the NEHA Retail Flexible Funding Model grants. They close on AI. The site was built in six weeks instead of three to six months. AI-assisted mobile inspections are in flight. Adam’s daughter Theo just turned one. His first appearance on the show never aired. Beyond Data Management is powered by HS GovTech. Recorded in the new studio. Links HSGovTech resources: https://www.hsgovtech.com/resources Beyond Data Management: https://www.hsgovtech.com/bdmpodcast Submit a story: Beyond@HSCloudSuite.com Chapters 0:00 A special Friday episode from the new studio 1:04 Meet Adam Smith 2:20 Three studios in two years 4:13 Conspiracies, road shows, and taking the podcast on tour 6:33 Meeting the environmental health community 7:39 8,000 subscribers and what is coming in 2027 8:25 How to submit your environmental health story 9:08 Why the public needs to hear inspector stories 10:36 The mouse baked into sliced bread 12:15 Why HSGovTech rebuilt its website 13:56 Why environmental health is more complex than it looks 15:13 How EH workflows expanded into gaming 16:36 More than 170 supported regulatory programs 18:28 A searchable catalog of real agency use cases 19:31 Transparent resources instead of a sales wall 20:32 Podcasts, webinars, blogs, and customer stories 21:31 Implementation lessons from neighboring agencies 22:37 More than 1,100 agencies on HS Cloud Suite 23:33 FDA Food Code and Retail Flexible Funding Model resources 24:33 Making grant funding easier to use 26:56 AI at HSGovTech and a website built in six weeks 28:00 AI-assisted mobile inspections 28:31 Parenthood, sleep, and travel gifts 30:44 Adam’s unreleased first appearance 32:21 Closing and a preview of season three Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  4. Oct 13 ·  Video

    AI Food Safety Audits: PathSpot, Chopt and the End of Clipboards

    Can artificial intelligence replace million-dollar restaurant audit programs—and make food safer at the same time? Recorded at the 2026 WAFDO, CEHA and Rocky Mountain Food Safety Conference Mega Conference in Denver, Cameron Garrison sits down with PathSpot co-founder and CEO Christine Schindler and Chopt Creative Salad Company co-founder Colin McCabe. Colin shares how he and Tony Shure grew Chopt from one New York City restaurant into a major fast-casual brand—and how an outbreak involving a product Chopt did not even serve still damaged sales because consumers associated the problem with salad generally. The conversation then moves into the future of restaurant food safety: connected temperature monitoring, handwashing verification, digital labeling, AI-powered spot audits, photographic evidence and real-time coaching. Christine explains how PathSpot is working to replace fragmented checklists and expensive, infrequent third-party audits with a continuous food-safety operating system. Colin offers the operator’s perspective: new technology only works if it is easy to use, saves labor and gives restaurant teams actionable information. Chapters 0:00 Opening from the Denver Mega Conference 0:54 Meet Christine Schindler and Colin McCabe 1:07 Building Chopt into a 100-restaurant brand 1:39 How a lettuce outbreak hurt an unrelated brand 3:45 The origins of fast casual 4:24 A restaurant founder obsessed with food safety 4:59 How Colin found PathSpot 6:40 The complete food-safety cockpit 7:37 Overcoming cost and operator mindspace 9:51 PathSpot adoption across the food industry 10:31 AI spot audits and major cost savings 11:09 Photos, standardization, and continuous oversight 12:43 Technology must be easy and save time 13:30 Replacing seven-figure audit programs 14:34 Turning audit time into targeted training 16:27 Restaurant staffing, turnover, and training 17:07 Why Chopt employees stay 18:59 Food safety as a predictor of restaurant performance 20:21 Technology as a recruiting and culture advantage 21:32 Restaurants, health departments, and data sharing 23:09 The next PathSpot innovations 25:13 How AI changes product development 26:18 Closing remarks They also discuss: • Why traditional inspections provide only a snapshot • How photographic evidence reduces disagreement and auditing bias • The potential to save restaurant brands seven figures in audit and travel costs • Turning inspection findings into targeted employee training • Restaurant staffing, retention and food-safety culture • Why strong food-safety performance can predict overall restaurant performance • How technology can become a recruiting and retention advantage • Whether restaurants should share internal safety data with health departments • Why AI allows technology companies to build requested features much faster Learn more: PathSpot: https://pathspot.com Chopt Creative Salad Company: https://www.choptsalad.com WAFDO: https://wafdo.wildapricot.org Beyond Data Management is hosted by Cameron Garrison and powered by HSGovTech. #FoodSafety #RestaurantTechnology #ArtificialIntelligence #EnvironmentalHealth #PathSpot #Chopt #RestaurantManagement #PublicHealth #FoodService #BeyondDataManagement Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  5. Oct 6 ·  Video

    He Teaches Food Safety to Future Doctors - Almost No Med School Does - BDMP ep 57

    Description Dr. Ben Ryan joins Cameron at GEHA 2026 on Lake Lanier, about a half hour outside Atlanta. Ryan is a professor at the Frist College of Medicine at Belmont University in Nashville, where he is putting environmental health into a brand-new medical school. He previously helped stand up a master’s of public health and environmental health program at Baylor, and he is in his first year as NEHA Region 7 representative (Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida). They get into why first-year med students light up over toxicology and food safety, why an MD running a health department often has almost no environmental health training, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate of about 27,000 environmental science and occupational health jobs a year for the next decade. Ryan on the salary gap pulling people out of local government, Tennessee’s tuition package as a retention tool, and why a five-to-ten-year pipeline may be the realistic model. Episode Timeline: 0:00  Opening and Introduction 0:22  Meet Dr. Ben Ryan 0:55  Bringing Environmental Health into Medical School 2:50  Environmental Health Careers and Workforce Demand 4:26  Recruiting and Retaining Government Professionals 5:24  What a NEHA Regional Representative Does 6:46  Teaching Future Physicians at Belmont 8:54  Why Build a Brand-New Medical School Program? 10:38  From Australia to the United States 11:52  Environmental Health in Australia vs. the U.S. 14:36  Pandemic Response and Geographic Isolation 16:58  Adapting to American Culture 18:06  NEHA Growth and the Next Generation 18:34  AI, Surveillance, and the Human in the Loop 20:12  Turning Data into Faster Public-Health Action 22:03  How Students Should Use AI 23:04  Measuring Environmental Health’s Impact 24:46  Closing Remarks Also on the table: Australia vs. the U.S. He grew up in Canberra, trained at Griffith in Brisbane, and has been in the States about nine years. Australia is only now opening a CDC and has no National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences equivalent. Dengue, cyclones, and local environmental health officers look familiar. The pandemic timeline did not. Friends back home were still locked down while he was at a Rangers game. They close on NEHA’s 7,000-plus members, 1,300 at the Kansas City AEC, 150 of them students, and using AI on inspection and surveillance data with a registered environmental health specialist still in the loop. Georgia’s new system lands in November. Same rule as everywhere else: storing the data is not the same as acting on it. Beyond Data Management is powered by HS GovTech.  Recorded live at the Lake Lanier Islands Resort for GEHA 2026. Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  6. Sep 30 ·  Video

    “The Cats Will Handle Our Rodent Problem” - A Health Inspector’s Life | Chase Boddicker ep 56

    Chase Boddicker never planned to be a health inspector. He trimmed trees and sprayed pesticides for Grand Junction Parks and Rec. His wife Kyla saw the Mesa County posting and said try it. Three years later he’s on the western slope talking food, air, and why the job is almost never the hammer people think it is. Recorded live at the CEHA + WAFDO Mega Conference in Lakewood, Colorado. In this episode: Iowa cornfields to 1.5 million acres of public land on the western slope Why “thank God you’re here” is the sentence that makes an inspector pay attention Cat food in the kitchen — “obviously, to feed the cats” that were the pest-control plan The operator closed on their very first routine inspection The mobile unit that kept selling because “the freezer still works” The guy who called every inspector an expletive… then roasted Chase for temping chicken wrong… then decided Chase was his favorite Colorado’s certified nose: Nasal Ranger, opacity, burn bans Advice for day-one inspectors: be curious, drop the acronyms, say “I don’t know” Yellow gloves on the ready-to-eat line, and why humility in someone else’s kitchen matters Why asking about the brisket is better enforcement than writing the ticket “¿Cómo se dice?” and the Mesa County team behind him Chase’s rule before he writes anything down: what are they trying to do? Beyond Data Management — powered by HS GovTech. Chapters text0:00 Episode Preview 0:32 Opening 0:45 Live from the Colorado Mega Conference 1:26 Meet Chase Boddicker of Mesa County 2:52 From Tree Work to Environmental Health 3:52 A Wife’s Nudge Changes a Career 5:11 AFDO  6:07 From Iowa to Colorado 7:23 The Relational Side of Inspections 10:38 Cats as Pest Control 12:44 Memorable Inspection Stories 17:32 Air Quality and the Certified Nose 19:15 Advice for New Inspectors 21:13 Curiosity as a Career Advantage 24:17 Seizing Unexpected Opportunities 26:20 Humility and Respect Inside Kitchens 28:07 Education Over Enforcement 29:58 The Team Behind the Inspector 31:26 Closing Thoughts Guest: Chase Boddicker, Mesa County Public Health, Colorado AFDO Fresh Take Friday Webinar Series:  https://AFDO.org/fresh-take-Fridays Recorded at: CEHA and WAFDO Mega Conference, Lakewood, CO Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  7. Sep 22 ·  Video

    The Only Inspector in the County | Danielle Hurst Wraps GEHA 2026

    Danielle Hurst, MPH, is Cook County’s only environmentalist — 87 food services, septic, land use, billing, the whole door. She also emceed every session at GEHA 2026. Recorded as the conference wrapped at Lake Lanier. She spent 10 years as an X-ray tech, started an undergrad for PA school, and applied for this job when epi didn’t have an opening. She stayed because she does not like sitting in an office. In this conversation: What it means to be the only EHS in a 10-county South Georgia district’s smallest county Mom-and-pop consistency vs. corporate turnover — and restaurants that never came back after COVID Regulating people you see in the grocery store and whose kids go to school with yours Why she calls people like Tim Callahan “hidden heroes” Food trucks, sister agencies, and why Georgia’s Health–Ag relationship is stronger than most states Rolling into president-elect and running the conference again next year How she booked the guests before the podcast even unpacked Live from GEHA 2026, Lake Lanier, Georgia. Beyond Data Management, powered by HS GovTech. Chapters 00:00 Wrap-up at Lake Lanier 00:53 She booked Food Truck Matt off an episode 01:00 Emcee of every session 01:16 Cook County — 87 facilities, one environmentalist 02:34 Mom and pop vs. turnover 03:18 COVID, staffing, restaurants that closed 04:05 Neighbors in the grocery store 05:37 Was the conference a success? 07:54 Tim Callahan’s award 08:08 Hidden heroes 09:13 X-ray tech to environmentalist 12:20 President-elect next 13:10 The food truck session 13:49 Health and Ag in the same room 15:14 Find your Danielle 16:38 Tear-down / thanks Links AFDO Meaningful Metrics — https://www.afdo.org/training/ Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

  8. Sep 16 ·  Video

    An Inspector’s Camera Roll: Sewage in Neighbor’s Yard, Dentures in a Bowl, and a creepy Pizza Place

    Joseph Addison (Fayette County, Georgia) has placed in the NEHA photo contest three years running. Recorded live at GEHA 2026, he walks Cameron through 12 photos from the field — the funny ones, the filthy ones, and the one he did not put on the report. In this episode: -“Biscuitus” and other kitchen personality that isn’t in the code -A septic repair that got dumped into the neighbor’s yard (2nd place, NEHA general category) -The pizza-place back room that looked like a lab — and why he pocketed the phone and left -Dentures in a mixing bowl A septic tank that floated out of the ground after a pump-out and a downpour -Bloodshot googly eyes over a prep sink -A hibachi floor so greasy it looked black — and why that still wasn’t an automatic close -The difference between “gross” and “will put someone in the ER” -Joseph’s point the whole hour: this is not a gotcha job. Inspectors are guests in someone else’s house. Call your inspector before the floor turns into sludge. Beyond Data Management — powered by HS GovTech. Recorded at GEHA 2026, Lake Lanier.  Special thanks to Danielle, Austin and the entire GEHA team for their invitation and hospitality. Be sure to subscribe for free to AFDO's Quick Take Friday's: https://AFDO.org/fresh-take-fridays Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:23 Live from GEHA + the NEHA photo contest 1:48 Why some departments won’t let inspectors take photos 2:34 Fayette County, Georgia 3:09 Photo 1: World Famous Biscuitus 4:07 Photo 2: Septic repair dumped into the neighbor’s yard 7:11 Photo 3: The pizza-place back room 10:25 Why he didn’t write it up — or call the cops 11:17 The roadside fish box with one prop fillet 12:03 The dentures 21:00 The septic tank that floated out of the ground 21:45 Googly eyes over the prep sink 23:42 Dishwasher grease + the same facility’s floors 26:00 Hibachi grease measured in inches 28:20 Gross vs. what actually shuts you down 30:10 They volunteered to close — then pressure-washed the building 31:15 Recurring segment: Life on the Road with Joseph Addison 32:10 Advice to operators: call your inspector 33:14 Close This episode captures the unvarnished side of public health work. Cameron walks through an actual inspector actual camera roll, showing the bizarre and challenging scenarios that inspectors encounter daily. It is a raw look at what really happens when you walk into a site and find a pizza place that defies all logic. Subscribe for weekly public health and safety breakdowns. Let us know in the comments: what is the strangest thing you have ever found on an inspection? Beyond Data Management, powered by HS GovTech. Send us Fan Mail Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The definitive podcast for government data management and stories from the field - with a special focus on Environment Health professionals.

Information

  • Creator
    Cameron Garrison
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Beyond Data Management Podcast
  • Show Website
    Beyond Data Management Podcast

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