In honor of Food Safety Education Month, we are launching a new series featured in NACCHO’s Podcast from Washington. Beginning September 19, NACCHO will be showcasing stories from local jurisdictions highlighting their innovative work to improve food safety in their communities. Their stories demonstrate how local health departments can implement food safety programs to improve public health and create a robust food safety program.
Episode Topics and Guest Speakers
- Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response – Amanda Anderson, Pima County Health Department, AZ | Click here to learn more and view the episode.
- Cultural Competency Programs and the Oral Culture Learner Program – Lane Drager, Boulder County Public Health, CO | Click here to listen to the episode.
- Retail Program Standards Networks and Networking Between Jurisdictions – Melissa Ham, formerly Wake County Health and Human Services, NC. | Click here to listen.
- Building a Robust Retail Program Standards Program as a Small Jurisdiction – Traci Stevens, Richmond County NC | Click here to listen to the podcast.
- Key Resources to Support Safer Food Systems – Nicholas Adams, NACCHO | Click here to listen to the podcast.
The series ran monthly from September 2024 through January 2025. You can find our podcast on any podcast platform by searching for “NACCHO Podcast Series” or by visiting this link.
Episode 1: Please tune in to the series pilot at the end of September’s edition of NACCHO’s Podcast from Washington to hear us speak with Amanda Anderson, Consumer Health and Food Safety Manager at the Pima County Health Department in Arizona, about their Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response and Preparedness program. We will be discussing the history of the program, impacts on outbreak response, and participation in the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR). Click here to listen to the episode.
Episode 2: In our second installment of the five-part series, Nicholas Adams, Senior Program Analyst on NACCHO’s Food Safety Team, is joined by Lane Drager, Consumer Protection Program Coordinator at Boulder County Public Health in Boulder County, Colorado. Boulder County has served for several years as a mentor for NACCHO’s Food Safety Mentorship Program under the NEHA-FDA Retail Flexible Funding Model, NACCHO’s Food Safety Workgroup, and with CIFOR. In their conversation, Drager discusses Boulder County Environmental Health Division’s oral learner train the trainer program that provides essential food safety training to retail food service staff, regardless of their spoken language. Click here to listen to the podcast.
Episode 3: In our November episode, we welcome Melissa Ham, a Registered Environmental Health Specialist at Hoke County Environmental Health in North Carolina. With 14 years of local and 18 years of state-level experience, Melissa, formerly of Wake County Environmental Services, has been a key player in the FDA’s Retail Program Standards since 2006. Melissa leads the Eastern North Carolina Retail Program Standards Network, which includes 51 local jurisdictions enrolled and working toward conformance with the FDA’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standard.
Tune in now to catch this interview.
At the time of the interview Melissa Ham was working for Wake County Environmental Services but is currently working for Hoke County Environmental Health.
Episode 4: In this fourth installment, Nicholas Adams, Senior Program Analyst for Environmental Health at NACCHO, is joined by Traci Stevens, Environmental Health Specialist at Richmond County Health Department in North Carolina. They discuss how Richmond County Health Department ensures their retail food safety programs are sustainable. The programs were recently awarded the 2024 Samuel J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award for their excellence in food safety practices at the local level.
Tune in now to catch this interview.
Episode 5: In our final episode, Nicholas Adams, Senior Program Analyst, reviews the stories and programs shared by our previous guests and highlights NACCHO’s projects that support local food safety programs. Nicholas shares how initiatives like the FDA’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, the NEHA-FDA Retail Flexible Funding Model, Retail Program Standards Networks, Oral Learner Train the Trainer Program, and the Council to Improve Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response provide local health departments with the tools to create a safer food system and to have a voice in national food safety conversations.
Tune in to catch the final episode here.
Additional Resources
Apple Podcast Link: NACCHO’s Podcast Series
Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR)
Retail Program Standards Mentorship
FDA’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards
