In this episode, we follow a thread, one that starts at curbside deliveries and missing accountability and moves into the parallels between failures in food safety and a 1947 Arthur Miller play.

What starts as an observation turns into a series of conversations; with a restaurant, a farm, a health department, and a distributor and what emerges is less about one mistake and more about the space in between. The place where responsibility gets blurry, communication breaks down, and accountability becomes… negotiable.

From there, the conversation shifts into something bigger. After seeing a production of All My Sons, Gennette and Darin found themselves sitting with the same questions the play wrestles with, denial, responsibility, the stories people tell themselves to make their decisions feel acceptable, even when the consequences are anything but.

And once you see those parallels, it’s hard to unsee them.

In this episode we discuss:
• Why real criminal trials are rare
• How fines fail to shift behavior
• The problem of regulatory “insulation”
• The role of peer pressure in leadership
• Why food safety culture begins with moral courage

Darin reflects on recent meetings in Washington, D.C. with FDA and USDA officials around recall readiness, using real-world analogies to explore why preparation on paper is not the same as being ready when it counts. Gennette introduces a new recurring segment inspired by a sub-Reddit “Am I the A-Hole?” post, using it to unpack what happens when people who follow the rules become the problem in broken cultures.

At the heart of the episode is a gripping conversation sparked by Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, a play the hosts recently explored in a live table read. Its central question feels uncomfortably current: when harm occurs, who truly owns responsibility? The episode closes with a look ahead as Darin shares news about his upcoming TEDx Northeastern University talk and the question that continues to drive his work: “Why didn’t someone stop this?”

This episode also brings something special. Darin gathered New Year’s resolutions from food safety leaders across the globe, creating a rapid-fire chorus of voices calling for stronger culture, smarter monitoring, and more shared responsibility. It’s a reminder that progress isn’t something one person drives. It’s something the entire community builds together.

And as a year-end gift, the final 15 minutes feature Darin’s full Dubai keynote, a powerful talk about invisible risks, leadership, responsibility, and why the future of food safety depends on both innovation and human courage. It’s the perfect sendoff for 2025 and a strong spark for the year ahead.

Click to read A Food Safety Carol, published in New Food Magazine. 

Plus, U.S. Air Force vet Kris Newton joins to share how military discipline translates into food safety leadership and what it means to speak up, even if it makes you the a**hole in the room. Toss in a few reality TV health code meltdowns, a Dolly drag parade in Nashville, and a lapdog in an LA restaurant, and you’ve got one unforgettable episode.

Links:

Don't Eat Poop! Podcast

Food Safety Chat Live!

QA Magazine (More about Kris Newton and other veterans in food safety)

From submarine reactor rooms to food safety policy, Darin unpacks the unexpected ways military life trained him for an advocacy career he never saw coming. The episode weaves personal story with cultural critique, revealing the shared DNA between life below sea level and the high-stakes work of protecting the food supply: invisible threats, moral conviction, and the pressure to act before it’s too late.

This one is reflective, geeky, heartfelt, and anchored in legacy. It also hints at a hidden pattern in the story titles themselves—so if you’re a fan of breadcrumbs, Darin’s leaving you one.

Silent Enemies Part 1

Silent Enemies Part 2

Silent Enemies Part 3

The conversation flows into a thoughtful unpacking of their “Four A’s” framework: awareness, allies, advocacy, and activism. Darin shares a personal moment of wrestling with the limits of his own advocacy, while Gennette brings it back to a long drive where the whole framework took shape. It's reflective, warm, and full of the kind of transparency that sets the tone for the episode’s deeper theme: seeing what usually stays hidden.

Then comes a detour featuring an unlikely discussion with early 20th-century activist and journalist Olive Christian Malvery. Our hosts uncover her experiences finding the disturbing practices of how food was produced in England 1906. Malvery shines a light on the persistent gaps between image and reality in food safety, and asks what it really takes to make a system transparent, accountable, and safe. It’s part satire, part history lesson, and all heart.

The episode closes with Gennette and Darin getting their boots literally dirty on a field trip to produce farms, a composting business, and a packaging/shipping facility. They talk with the people who are doing food safety not just by the book, but by conviction. It’s a look at the systems that work quietly, often invisibly, to keep food safe and the people who believe transparency is worth the extra work.

This episode moves from podcast reflection to performance to produce fields. Along the way, they ask: What does it mean to go behind the curtain and beyond awareness?

Links of note:

• Food Safety Education Month link: https://www.pepnexus.com/blog/categories/food-safety-education-month
• Silent Enemies Part 1: https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/255304/silent-enemies-part-1-under-pressure/
• Silent Enemies Part 2: https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/255304/silent-enemies-part-1-under-pressure/
• Olive Christian Malvery - The Soul Market (Read for free): https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Soul_Market/52NGAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

Later, Darin and Gennette are excited to interview their FIRST GUEST. They’re joined by Steve Ardagh, CEO and co-founder of Eagle Protect, for a conversation that starts with gloves but zooms out to something much bigger. In the lead-up to Global Glove Safety Day on September 18, Steve breaks down the science of contamination at the microscopic level and makes the case that gloves when poorly constructed or improperly sourced aren’t just ineffective, they can actively contribute to contamination. He explains how high-quality gloves, backed by traceability and testing, can be a vital part of the solution but only if we stop treating all gloves as equal. The conversation touches on manufacturing transparency, regulatory blind spots, and the urgent need for industry-wide awareness around something most people take for granted.

The episode wraps with some big-picture reflections: on how safety is both a personal and public act, and on the uncomfortable truth that sometimes the most dangerous thing is not what's on someone’s hands but what’s on their conscience.

For more information about Global Glove Safety Day on September 18, 2025 go to https://eagleprotect.com/pages/glove-safety-day. Also on September 18, 2025 - don't forget that the first installment of Silent Enemies will be published on New Food Magazine https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/ 

From fielding fan selfies at a food safety conference to being recognized by a comedian at a random show in LA, the conversation become a reflection on what it means when your work leaves a mark—especially when the people you're impacting are younger than the length of your career. This episode explores vulnerability, storytelling, and the impact of simply being “the person who says something.”

Also in this episode: impromptu interviews on what other people think a “food safety a**hole” really is (spoiler: not always flattering), a memory from 1993 featuring an un-refrigerated lunch spread, the support of the Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a surprising meditation on how food safety conversations can start long before—or long after—anyone thinks they matter.

This one's about voice. About speaking up. And about what it means when people remember.

To learn more about the upcoming article Silent Enemies appearing in New Food magazine in September (mentioned in this episode), check out the additional content at pepnexus.com/silent.

This episode isn’t about cooking temps or properly pronouncing bacteria names. It’s about the human stakes behind food safety, the moral calculus of calling things out, and what it means to keep showing up—even when it makes other people uncomfortable. It’s also about nachos. Kind of.