My Food Job Rocks!

This is my take on an entrepreneur interview. Most if not all of the questions are free form in some way so this was an…interesting episode. It takes a while for Keenan and I to warm up, to get on each other’s wavelength, but you’ll get some amazing dialog at the end of the episode. Originally supposed to be an episode about ethics, this became an episode about people. How do you find good people, what makes people tick, what makes them do good things, or bad things. Perhaps that’s the most important thing in entrepreneurship. Keenan does not hold back in this interviews and is a fiery and loud guest. He will bring some very controversial views. I ask you just listen. This is the end of our Northeastern Lecture Series. Next week we’ll be going back to our 1 episode a week format every Monday. See you next week! Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. Nicole is offering free job postings in the next two months and I highly suggest taking this offer. Email nicole@foodgrads.com and she'll give you instructions. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. What is your definition of a startup?: A project with zero funding and zero operations. It grows from zero to something. What industries have you been in?: Sports, education, men’s grooming What are the common theme for starting buisnesses?: An MBA will give you a perfect process using imperfect people. However, in my opinion, perfect people make an imperfect process work. If I have good people, it will work and be successful How do you hire people?: Talk to people you want to promote. Do you have an interview question that you find useful to vet people?: Not really. Find what people are passionate of. What do you think makes a person Ethical?: Clarity, Accountability, Vulnerable, we’ve all been let down, so we know what it looks like. Have you been in an unethical situation?: I’ve worked for some major brands, the whole system is unethical. What drives someone to be unethical?: Risk is based off of unpredictability, threat and fear. You have a decision to make not based on chance or likelihood based on threat or fear. How do you mitigate risk?: I’m more of a gambler. But still there’s a way I can migitate in the large term Why I started entrepreneurship: The risk aspect of entrepenuership because I defined what the risk was. Can you describe a favorite failure?: I started a sports agency. I saved $100k and gotten another $60k injection. Once it started losing money, I invested my 401k. When you’re an entrepreneur, you’ll risk a lot to achieve success. When did you have to let the project go?: I had near $168 dollars left to my name. I was at a dead end. No where left to go. How did you bounce back?: I applied for a craigslist job at an education startup. They’re looking for a college admissions startup. I didn’t have the street creds but I got the job. I worked my way up through contracts and I eventually took over the company. A friend of mine wants an R+D job but has quality experience. How can he get the R+D job?: I want to see work ethic. Were you promoted? Do you have experience in other sectors? You need to be well-rounded. Generally, that breeds self-confidence Should you work harder or work smarter?: People want to see you sweat. But you eventually find techniques that limit wasted motion. You’ve perfected the technique. People say practice makes perfect but if you practice mistakes, you’ll only make mistakes Books, Quotes, or Heroes: Humility is not about thinking less about yourself, but thinking about yourself less. I’m my biggest fan. I had to become my biggest fan. You’ll never have a more fair fight than the person in the mirror Dying a second time: How to not be forgotten How can we find out more about you?: Find him here How did you find Darin?: We were classmates but I found him different yet cool with.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As you’ve heard in episode 112 with Todd Barr and 114 with David Mahoney, Analytics becomes an ever powerful technology to save the world. Yet the subject is pretty dense and hard to grasp. In most cases, it requires coding. I bring Uwe Hohgrawe on the show to talk a bit more about analytics and his answers surprised me. It’s actually better to be a subject matter expert first and then dive into the analytics more than anything else. So this interview is much more about why Analytics is something you might need to invest in the future, especially if you want to make big changes in the food industry. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. Nicole is offering free job postings in the next two months and I highly suggest taking this offer. Email nicole@foodgrads.com and she'll give you instructions. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Shownotes What do you tell people in a sentence or less?: I’m working for one of the most prestigious universities in the united states and I lead analytics The history of analytics Florence Nightengale was a Nurse/ first female statistician. Identified areas where soliders died more than other areas. It was more from diseases than wounds. Who else sues big data: Jeff Bezos. Sold books online but used Big Data to beautifully shape amazon’s philosophy “What is good for the customer is in the end, good for amazon” Different parts of analytics are outsourced: for example, you can buy data and buy visualization services. Analytics tools: Dope Sequel R Python Spark Is there anything that you’d like to dispel today?: I completely understand that people are scared of data. Even though we gather a ton of data, it’s for artificial intelligence. We use this to find new knowledge. Clean Meat – Paul Sharpiro’s book The best professionals in analytics are those who have the best knowledge about the domain. I started in the pharmaceutical business. I then became a social scientist and got into analytics, which helped me in the pharmaceutical industry. I was in charge of global analytics from Johnson and Johnson. What appealed you about North Eastern?: We incorporate real world data in NorthEastern. The students are also all around the world and I love it. Why do you love what you do?: I get feedback from students that are impactful. I love it when students get it. How can what you do, feed the world?: If we are able to have people buy stuff and control traffic, we should be able to identify hunger and find ways to feed people using analytics. How has science evolved?: When I started college, I used a dial telephone. We’re going faster and faster but the core remains the same. We have to deliver quality and answer the question What are your thoughts on Artificial Intelligence?: If it saves time and makes you more innovative, it’s worth it. Any advice for anyone in the food industry?: Know what you like to do. Talk to experts and get informed. For analytics, know math, statistics, some tools. Machine learning, predictive elements Where can we find you for advice?: Northeastern website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you patent your grandma’s cookies? No, but it can be a trade secret. David works as a lawyer at a really cool company that you’ve probably never heard of: Indigo Ag. From what I've gathered, the company uses data and analytics to find the optimal place to grow plants all around the world. David’s path to being a lawyer was unconventional but synergizes very well with what he was passionate about. He was a scientist first, but was so good at arguing and logic, that he was recommended to be a lawyer. In the end, he was able to combine his love of science with his practice of law. A big portion of the podcast involves us talking about the difference between a trade secret, a patent and a copyright. Things that are confusing and there’s a lot of gray area, but it’s nice to know. I recall in this interview, I had a cold so I might sound a bit clogged up and congested.  Expect some loud coughs. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. Nicole is offering free job postings in the next two months and I highly suggest taking this offer. Email nicole@foodgrads.com and she'll give you instructions. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Show Notes Dave is an expert in intellectual property who deals with patents When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you do for a sentence or less?; I’m an attorney. Or I work in a corporate setting protecting and licensing the technology. To average joes, I just say I work for technology companies. The perception on attorney’s: Like the 12am commercials on TV. Where do you work?: Indigo Ag Inc. Locations in Massachusets, Memphis, Tennesse, Brazil, Argentina Indigo Agriculture: Harness the microbiome technology for seeds and plants for the benefit of augmenting crop yields. The theory is that the microbiome in the soil will optimize growth in plants like drought tolerance, pesticide resistance, and other factors. These are all naturally occurring, non-GMO programs. We find what is out there in the environment that would benefit the growth of these plants. The hard part is finding the symbiome plant/fungi helping the plant grow. Partner’s program: will work with farmers and will guarantee paying a premium for their crops. This is due to the quality being better than what might be there otherwise. What’s the difference between intellectual property (IP) and patents? IP is the umbrella, patents include that. The IP umbrella: Patents, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets Trademark: Partially bitten apple in the back of your laptop. It’s a well valued. Copyrights: Due to the rapid pace of technology, most software companies go this route. Doing anything is also copyrighting Trade Secrets: Recipes and formulations. You can protect it indefinitely as long as you keep it a secret. This is what the food industry does Patents: Public. Limited process time. The limit is about 20 years The most common, known way is the music industry. Everytime a song plays, they are charged a royalty fee. Penalties: If you find out KFC’s secret recipe, could you copy it?: They need to use reasonable measures. For example. If you are an employee and you steal a formula, you can be sued. If you sign an NDA or any employee confidentiality, you can get penalized for stealing. There is not an enforcement for fighting for a trade secret How did you get to where you are today?: I thought I was going to be a scientist but I found out that law would be the best path for me because I can argue really well. My score at the GRE told me I should work on the LSAT. Human Genome Project – David found many gray areas with the Human Genome Project in regaurds to law and it was the perfect intersection between science and law. My first job a laywer at a company that was searching genetic sequences automatically. Can you patent genes?: It’s really hard to patent genes. You have to know everything about the gene/microbe What do you think is the most important skill you need for your job?: Wisdom. Which comes from experience. Why does your food Job Rock: It rocks because they are trying to do something no one has done in the food industry. Why is what you do important for the global food supply?: 2 reasons. This technology is capable to use the unnoticed land to grow crops and would notify people to not hard vital areas that can grow crops. How will the future change be impacted in what you do?: Hopefully, we can impact agriculture that uses natural substances to make yields more robust. We can get rid of chemicals doing this. How has technology helped in what you do?: It allows us to screen tons of data really fast. How will artificial intelligence change food and agriculture careers?: it will benefit and change it. Artificial Intelligence will allow better prediction for physical microbiomes and research purposes. What is one significant example of what you do will benefit the world?: Things are built upon other things and we need to know how to access this technology. To truly improve technology, we need to collaborate but have agreements in place. Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to go into your field?: I don’t know if this is a field for everybody. In all seriousness, whatever field you go into you need to really believe in it. What I enjoy in my job is that I get to see stages in biology that is applicable to food and agriculture. We take for granted the ability to go to stores and buy great quality food no matter where we are. People don’t even think about where food comes from anymore. Do you think there will be more diversity in the world or less?: If we’re able to be productive and more mindful, then yes, I think we can.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re in the non-profit space, what do you have to do to jump through the hoops and get funded on your project that will help your community? This is the question I asked Ted Johnson today. Ted leads an incubator that helps push these projects to get funded and we go through multiple scenarios on how to get community projects funded. This includes things I’ve never known. Some examples include ethnic based sororities and fraternities, kickstarters and go-fund-me’s. Other topics we talk about that are super interesting is the complexities of Food Deserts and the power of writing. We really stress the importance that everyone should learn to write and the best way to do it? Start a blog! About Ted Theodore R. Johnson is a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. Prior to joining the Brennan Center, Dr. Johnson was a national fellow at the New America Foundation, where he undertook projects on black voting behavior and the role of national solidarity in addressing racial inequality. Previously, he was a Commander in the United States Navy and, most recently, a research manager at Deloitte. You can read more about Ted here. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full-time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Show Notes What do you tell people in a  sentence or less: I study racial disparities and the implications those disparities have on public policy What do you do in the food realm?: There’s tons of data showing that communicates with less access to food have less access to healthy food. It’s hard to get a fresh piece of fruit in a food desert Food Desert: A geographic area where there is no access to fruit and evegtables. Healthy foods are not accessable. They form because grocery stores don’t find it economical to set up in poor neighborhoods How do you prevent food deserts?: The federal government has to get involved and the solution might be to give grants to innovative projects Urban Gardening Uber, Lyft, Airbnb: Sharing Economy How do people get funding for their projects?: there are a lot of places that want to invest in solutions Idea: Combining free breakfast and food trucks. This removes the pain point for kids on free lunch can get food right at their house and remove the stigma of free lunch. How to Get Funding Angel Investment and Community Crowdfunding helps a ton Black Fraternities and Sororities are actually one of the best ways to get funding as they are lifelong community activists Every culture has their way of giving back to the community. For example, Hispanics send money back to their homeland. Hispanic and South East Asians can pool community resources extremely well. Ted, what role do you play in this?: I’m at the federal level. I identify problems and find solutions and find the natural fit for the agency or policy maker. I put the human element in. I try to close the wage gap. Is that hard?: Super hard. It’s because of the politics. The decision makers think “how does this benefit me?” Can you describe the steps it took to get you where you are today?: Math major, ended up in the Navy in cyber security. Was a whitehouse fellow. During that time, I saw a lot of disparities in the black community so I focused the rest of my career on that. I spent my last few years in service getting my PhD in Public policy The Lesson in all of this: It’s NEVER too late to change yourself What is the most important skill you need for your job?: Writing. It’s a really effective way to communicate a complex problem to people who can build support. There is a talent to write short, long and book-length content. All are important. For me, I try to write lived experience. Not just data, stories Writing is a muscle. Start a blog. It gets your name out there. What is what you do important for the food system?: It impacts the global food supply because it makes food cheaper and people should be getting it. A lot of the food that grows is, unfortunately, going to processed food. How will the future change or be impacted by what you do?: If we figure this out, resources will be freed up to help us do more things. If people live higher quality lives and we get more talent, we can improve every aspect of our society. How has science and technology impact what you do?: Yield. The more food we have, the more it will help with our cause How will artificial intelligence change what we do in food and agriculture: It will free up a lot of mundane tasks and will help us make better decisions by recognizing problems we’d never discover. How can what you do help us as cities: The only ways companies will do things is if you buy more stuff. For example, if a chicken is free ranged, they will plaster it everywhere. We have to do the same with food disparity. Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to get into food policy?: Be specific. Find that passion in that discipline and go from there. Where can we find you: TheodoreRJohnson.com Everything is there. I talk about cybersecurity, racial security, everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  We shoot around the topic of big data around, but it’s hard for us to understand what that actually means. Luckily, Todd Barr helps break down not only Big Data, but also gives us a taste of the fascinating world of Geographic Information Systems, and Precision Agriculture. Using drones, tractors, or anything that scans data, Todd can gather mass amounts of data, organize it, and give hyper-targeted solutions on certain issues in the food realm. We give tons of examples of how this technology works. For example, we can fix farms really easily because we know what plots of lands need more water, and we know where to put Whole foods in which suburb because we know what type of people live there, This interview is admittedly really rocky, because I had a hard time trying to understand this! And I want to understand it so I ask a lot of questions. Todd does an amazing job breaking it down with examples on how precision agriculture can feed the world. The first half of the interview is very rough, but I want you to take note how I try and understand the technology and eventually we get to the heart of it. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full-time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Show Notes What do you do for a living?: I collect data using drones and satellites and analyze data. I color maps like a kindergartner Tractor technology: started as GPS, ended up using new technology. Post Katrina, they are self-driving and getting real-time data. People don’t realize what’s on a farm. There are automatic tractors nowadays Geospatial: is basically X Y Z data. Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Using technology and data to run spatial analytics to solve real-world problems Whole Foods and Trader Joes uses geospatial technology to plant their shops How did you get to the Big Data industry?: 20 years in Washington DC. Introduced through work and learned about it before big data was a thing. Where can you learn about Big Data?: Youtube has great videos, ESRI, Open Source, QGIS Where would you go first?: I’d join the spatial community on twitter #GIStribe and then go to youtube Can you give me an example on this technology?: We did a study on tractor accuracy so reduce how “off” they are in their path Another example: Scanning biomass of orange fields and tells you if biomass is a correlation of yield Is there any software you need?: You need to create a lake database and link it to a JSON file and you chunk it out to do the analysis. You can extract and input a row. We use cloud systems to handle the data. We use Amazon web services. What kind of skill do you need for your job?: You should know a bit about statistics but you should also learn to ask questions. Be interactive. Big Data is about volume velocity My Food Job Rocks: I make food cheaper, and I get to play with data. How do you make food cheaper?: We can scan a whole mass of data and find ways to reduce input. We can target an area that has problems and fine-tuning it. You spend less on resources. More and more farms are asking people to do this during the growing season What is Darin’s course: Darin’s course is about food security and this technology will help with solving food security. A lot of countries are now looking into this technology. Africa, for example, is getting a lot more yield with this technology. What is what you do important?: It’s going to make food cheaper because we can find pain points and reduce it. Planet Labs is taking pictures of the earth every day and the stuff gets processed in under 24 hours. Doves or small satellites. You can buy their services and get the big data. What up and coming technologies will help you in Precision Agriculture?: This technology will be cheaper. However, machine learning will improve this technology by a lot. What will AI do to your industry?: It will come up with recipes in what humans have been doing for years. So it would give you a recipe for maximum yield on a farm. When will this AI be coming?: It’s here, we need to convince people that it’s a proper ROI. Monsanto, Cargill is already implementing it. Medium-sized farms probably won’t buy it yet. How do you feel about self-driving cars?: I hate them. But I like assisted self-driving cars Other technologies: Vertical farming, Hydroponics, Stacking farms on top of each other Favorite book: Fahrenheit 451 Favorite Kitchen Item: Ipad. I can learn to cook or order from seamless. Amazon Echo Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to go to your field?: Don’t be afraid to ask questions, know statistics, don’t be afraid about a computer program. How to learn computer programming: Data camp (in browser coding). You should learn python if you want to go into Big Data. Really easy to learn Where can we find you?: Twitter (Spatial_punk). I havea blog at medium called Spatial Impressionism. Workshops: Spatial R and Spatial Squal classes at Colorado State and going to Miami and Ohio University   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  To kick off our Northeastern Lecture Series, I give you an episode that feels like a spy flick than anything else. Mitchell leads and manages food spies who look for food fraud in various companies and his mission in life is to make food authentic. This was all inspired by a food safety incident in China. So this episode brings us to the complex world of food fraud, and how Mitchell promotes food authenticity through various services and non-profits. We also get into a discussion on blockchain. Though nobody seems to truly understand blockchain, Mitchell tells us why it might not be the panacea we’re looking for. We do this interview live with Mitchell conveniently at Phoenix at the time. Kinda cool, huh? Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full-time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Show Notes What do you tell people you do?: I’m a Food Spy. I run a food intelligence gathering firm where I contract operatives all over the world What do these spies do?: very good at gaining employment and taking audio and pictures Examples: Melamine in China Honey Fraud Peanut Corporation of America In general, profit will always take over quality when push comes to shove Has quality improved since you started or not?: Consumers want quality, but there’s a chance that it can be clever marketing How do you get into a career in Food Fraud?: You have to try internally and create a system inside the company to test out. This takes a ton of courage. The European Union Regulatory Environment is much more honest compared to the United States. How did you get into food?: I was a lawyer in the semiconductor industry. When I was setting up an international trade company in China, I got some terrible food poisoning Most important skill you need in what you do?: Common Sense. Food Industry is complicating the issue Why Does Your Food Job Rocks?: It validates my mission in life Switzerland Organic Food (Bio). Nobody bought the lower priced produce because they know it's authentic. Why is what you do important in terms of the global food supply?: Because it’s global. We want to promote food authenticity. International Food Authenticity Non-Profit Trends and technologies: Why Michthell does not agree with Blockchain in a food fraud standpoint How will artificial intelligence change the future?: Artificial intelligence is honest and not greedy so it will help food fraud a lot What is one example that shows people that what you do is important?: This interview! Outside of the food industry, how can regulatory help others in the future?: We need better regulations. People in public affairs and public policy can help us push forward. How would they contact you?: Info@inscatech.com I am also googleable Any advice for anyone who wants to go into the industry: Go for it, but be passionate         Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may remember Darin in episode 73 where he talked about his life-long crusade to improve food safety. We’ve kept in touch and he asked me to help him with a guest lecturer project. Darin is in charge of the class, Global Economics of Food and Agriculture, which is a multidisciplinary graduate class focused on current global trends in the food industry. On the cutting edge, I was interested in helping him out and boy, I’m so glad I did. I was happy to interview 6 really cool guest lecturers from Darin’s class and wow did I learn a lot. Not only about the coolest technologies in the world like Geospatial tech, and environmental biome research, but there’s a lot on authenticity not only in the food realm but the political and entrepreneurial realm as well. Darin and I break down the purpose of the course and each of the guests that encompass this series I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. No ads this time, this one’s a freebie Show Notes GST 6350 – Global Economics of Food and Agriculture. This course was made to interdisciplinary cross-link Global Economics and people in the food industry Lead Faculty – Masters of Food Science in Regulatory Affairs in the Food Industry Why do people take this class?: Both of interest and requirements. Most people in the class are for the industry Why did you decide to use a guest structure?: I couldn’t do it alone. There’s too much to talk about. Thanks to technology, we can get guests anywhere in the world and even record and videotape it for the public. Why did you decide to put a podcast element in the podcast?: 3 reasons. Students like to know how people got into their profession This acts as a supplementation to the lecture Students like listening to podcasts Thank to you, (Adam), podcasts last forever and this information can be interchangeable for other course. It’s an innovative platform. Guest List: Mitchell Weinberg – Darin met him in Dubai and kept on running into each other. Because both were doing such great work in Authenticity, Darin and Mitchell have teamed up in many things. Does a lot of public television work and TED Talk things. What do people do to push new policy? Todd Barr- Works with another individual who Darin knows well. She recommended Todd Barr to do the lectures on precision agriculture. Still discussing on teaching a course about it. David Mahoney – Teaches in Regulatory affairs and Bio Medical Devices. Really good on FDA Laws. I actually interviewed him at Northeastern. During this interview, I asked the difference between a trade secret, patent, copyright. Ted Johnson – When I was going through my doctoral program, he was a student with me. Both in the military. His podcast is about finding ways to feed the underprivileged. As a man of policy, we get pretty into finding solutions. Uwe Hohgrawe – A genius of Analytics. His desk is close to mind. We talk a lot and how to use analytics to help the food industry. Multiple discussions on epidemiology and blockchain. Had to get him to speak and had students take classes in analytics to help them in their jobs. Analytics is a gadget. Keenan Davis – Wildcard of a guest. Very energetic. Same class as Ted and Darin. Took a different role in terms of an entrepreneur angle. It’s not all big corporations. There are startups that want to go into the food industry. Other guests that did not get interviewed Freight Farms Lawyer from Boston about BlockChain Talking about the security of food boarders How different countries protect data What is most important to Darin: These 32 students that come out of this class are going to make better educated decisisons whether in work, or life I also want to learn from them as well. This would be the class I’d want to be in.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special interview where I get on skype and talk to not only Dr. Harris, but his whole class! In terms of content, this is a standard information about me, how my food job rocks, the life of a food scientist in my eyes, and what I’ve learned podcasting. If you’ve been a long time listener of the show, you’ll realize that I say the same things in previous episodes, or articles but unless you’re super obsessed with me, you’ll learn some things about me that is a great summary of the content I’ve produced in the past 110 episodes. You can even say I’ve updated my philosophy quite a bit. So key takeaways in this episode is that I distill the tactics for getting say, a job. Or switching jobs. Not only that, but the power of asking questions and the power of building your credibility. You’ll hear no laugh track on this one. Its either because I’m not funny or I couldn’t hear the crowd. I’ll be doing double episodes in the next 3 weeks and this is a special segment. I had the opportunity to help Darin Detwiler with his class, Global Economics and he allowed me to interview 6 of his amazing guest lecturers and use it as supplemental information. These types of technologies include Geospatial Technology, Food Fraud, and Analytics. All super interesting technology. Some of the lecturers are not focused on food actually, but they’re good none-the-less. So yea, expect 2 episodes a week, Monday and Wednesday. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full-time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. I’ve updated why My Food Job Rocks: to overall, I have the ability to impact millions of people with food. Foodgrads.com Gabriel Harris' My Food Job Rocks: I get to work with cool students about the food scientist How did you find out about Food Science?: Serendipitously googled it How do you process Granola Bars?: A lot of stuff is mixed together in large machines. The big focus on how manufacturing helps with product development Manufacturing job: Bootcamp for Food Scientists How did you change from Granola Bar to Isagenix?: Networking and job hopping You can interview for another job. A lot of people actually don’t know this. Companies will encourage you to leave, and get experience somewhere else and come back. Your network is your net worth. You also need to have strong and weak relationships What is the day in the life of a food scientist?: It’s based on projects rather than the daily life. You have to work with a lot of people to get this done. Episode 80 Adam gets interviewed for the Phoenix New Times How did you start a podcast Why I built a website: A website is 100% mine I interviewed my friends first: Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4 Paul Shapiro – Clean Meat There will always be problems in the world. You should be the one who solve them What have you learned from 100 podcasts: How to ask better questions and when to ask better questions Student Questions How do ideas come up when you make new products? Sometimes through market research, sometimes through top leadership. It really depends on the company. However, you DO have the ability to give input if you gain enough credibility in the company. Is your podcast on Spotify?: Yes! Click Here  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Really excited to have Austin on the show. What’s really cool is that he found My Food Job Rocks because he’s a regular listener of Don and Ben’s podcast, Food Safety Talk. Funny how that works, right? So Austin became a regular listener and engaged with me on social media. We now pretty much support each other in everything we do. Austin has his own site, Fur Farm Fork where he posts really technical, powerful stuff about food safety. This was a fun interview. Austin’s past was a bit different than most as he found out why his food job rocks out of falling into an internship and found out he really loved auditing and making corrections to said audits. Now taking on a leadership role at Earth2O. We get into in-depth discussions on whole genome sequencing, and since we have a water expert, we get into the raw water craze that was sweeping Silicon Valley at the time, and Austin has quite the interesting viewpoint on that. Also, quick disclaimer, I apologize for saying the company name Earth2O as Earth H2O multiple times in the episode. Hope you can forgive me. About Austin Austin Bouck is a quality assurance manager at EartH2O, a certified B-corp bottled water and coffee manufacturer in Oregon. When not at work solving technical quality challenges, he continues to ponder food safety issues on his blog, Fur, Farm, and Fork, which helps him stay sharp and share his knowledge with other professionals and the public. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full-time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Job Title: QA Manager for Earth2O The difference between Quality Assurance versus Quality Control Quality Assurance: The framework used to set up quality Quality Control: The action step. The auditors used to make sure things are done right Earth2O is a small company. I brought someone on last year. I used to lead a team of 9. The biggest misconception: A lot goes on in bottled water. For example, cleaning, has to last 2 years, etc. Technical Expertise in water: Water treatment is complex. There are tools such as: Reverse osmosis: Pretty much means ultrafiltration Deionization Distillation Describe the steps it took to get to where you are today: I wanted to be a vet and I did my bachelors in animal science. I applied but I’m on the waitlist. I did an internship at OFD Foods. I had to do a risk assessment in the lab and I loved it! I stayed for 3 years and then I moved to my hometown in central Oregon Temple Grandin Certified B-Corporation. A business that’s a force for good. Oregon gas law What is the most important skill you need in Quality Control/Assurance?: The devil is in the details IFSQN – A Forum for QA people What’s your dream job title?: I want to be known as a _______ guy What do you look for most in a  company?: Employee investment. Either going to an established company or start your own QA culture. Some companies don’t care about Quality Management Mary Wilkerson – American Peanut Corporation Whole Genome Sequencing: The hottest technology for food safety, but still really new Sequencer Cell Phones Where can we find more information about whole genome sequencing?: It’s actually hard to find info about it. What is the biggest challenge the food industry needs to face?: As we get more specific on food safety, we’ll be focused more on processing What about Raw water?: “can you please define what’s raw water?”. Different people want different water and everyone has a different reason to not trust your water. However, there are some natural spring water sources that are actually up to standard. (Earth2O has this water). As a capitalist, go them! As a food safety standpoint, it’s like raw milk. Favorite Quote: Where does the true source of music lie? In the strings themselves or the hands that pluck them? Favorite Kitchen Items: Avacado Slicer and Silicon Rubber Stapula Any advice for anyone who wants to go into the food industry?: Be ready for multiple roles and be ready to find out you like some of those roles. What would you tell yourself your first day at your job?: Calm down. Eat the elephant a bite at a time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So this is part of the graduate student series, a series launched last year about graduate school. Even though Cat and Meg are graduate students, they have taken a different path. And this path is actually getting more popular. Cat and Meg are both getting their Masters of Professional Studies Designed for professions who want to transition into the food industry, this program is sprouting up everywhere. Even Cal Poly has one just for their dairy program! According to Cat and Meg, this 1 year intensive course allows you to tackle on a project while taking the classes you’ve always wanted including but not limited to, wine tasting, food entrepreneurship, and cheese making. Not only that, but Cat and Meg are also food communicators and instead of doing just a plain old podcast, they are killing it using Instagram! Check out @nonfictionfoods, where Cat and Meg post beautiful pictures of food and the science of that food. Overall, if you’re interested in a different approach for graduate school, or are interested in the food industry, this might be the episode for you About Meg Meg is a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) student in Food Science at Cornell University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Queen’s University, Canada in 2015. Between her degrees, she worked for two years in sales and marketing with consumer packaged goods companies. It was here that she was inspired to go back to school and pursue a career in the food industry. Aside from school, Meg has always been passionate about food and public health. She is excited to be a part of the next generation of food leaders that thinks of innovative ways to drive the industry forward and create products to improve our quality of life. About Cat Cat is also a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) student in Food Science at Cornell University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the College of Wooster, OH in 2017. Following her junior year, she interned in Quality Assurance for Gordon Food Service in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was there that she fell in love with what the food industry has to offer. She is looking forward to pursuing a career in the food industry that melds her passion for science and creativity. About Nonfiction Foods Nonfiction Foods is the brainchild of two Cornell professional graduate students, created in an effort to bridge the gap between science and the foods we eat every day. After meeting at Cornell, Meg & Cat realized how little they and their friends and families knew about the foods they consume. The biggest barrier they found was the lack of reliable media presence for food science facts and so Nonfiction Foods was created. They are primarily on Instagram and reached 1,000 followers in just under two months of starting. In addition to their Instagram they have a website, Facebook page, and are currently on the lookout for new opportunities to expand their reach. Sponsor - Bakerpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods Unless you have been living under a rock you can not get away from Halo Top Ice Cream’s amazing success with their under 300 calories per pint ice cream. What’s a frozen dessert manufacturer to do to compete? Pick up the phone and call Icon Foods at 310-455-9876 or find them on the web at www.iconfoods.com that’s what. They have a new HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix that delivers amazing mouthfeel and sumptuous flavor all under 300 calories per pint. But, here’s the best part; you simply add the HiPro dry mix to any milk type, add glycerin and inclusions and you are off to the races with an amazing finished product lickity split. Icon Foods HiPro Ice Cream Dry Mix comes in hard ice cream mix, soft serve, vegan and wait for it… Keto. Call my friends at Icon and let them ReformulateU. 310-455-9876. Episode Summary Cathrine Boyles - 1st year in professional studies. Love the free food Meghan Marchuk - 1st year in professional studies. Love the scenery We are studying a professional study. It’s a 1 year course that has you choose a project to complete so you go straight to industry. You can specialize in food product development, food chemistry, etc. You can take a diverse amount of classes Cathrine – Chemistry background wvas in Canada and work for food industry companies Meghan – Graduate from the College of Wooster and jumped straight into the course. Interest in entrepreneurship How did you find out about the program?: I googled food science masters and this was the most appealing. You have to do your GRE and send your transcripts Is there a requirement?: Cornell is pretty vague on grades and GRE scores. We think the personal statement matters the most. How do you write a personal statement?: Ask the alumni these questions. You should mention how you’ll give back to the school. You also need a great hook. How many units do you have to take?: We have to take 30 credits (per hour). 20 of them have to be food science. Has to be a 4000 (4 level class) Do you have any funny stories in your classes?: In our wine class, we were confused when our professor tasted asparagus in wine. What’s the biggest thing you learned about your application process?: Talk and email alumni. Don’t be afraid to email people outside your comfort zone. Figure out your advisor before you get there. It’s hard, but do your research! How are advisors different in your program?: We have a very different experience with advisors compared to other graduate students. Lay out your expectations What kind of questions you asked to have you convinced of this program?: It’s quite a large financial bet. I had to ask people, “will this course get me a leg up on the competition?” The cost of the program is around: 30k (30% added on in Canada). It is an investment What type of food tends and technologies are exciting right now?; The plant-based alternatives. I love meat, but I understand the environmental and ethnical issues. HPP- High Pressure process used for diamonds now for the food industry. Apparently, very good at getting the meat out of a lobster. What is the biggest challenge the food industry needs to face?: Factory farming, and food waste. Also, how are all of these food companies going to work in the future? How are we also going to communicate with food? Nonfiction foods: How did you make it? Sitting in class and learning about eggs and that’s how it got started. We went through 100s and 100s of text messages about the names. Rejected names: the Shucking Truth Tips on Instagram: Hashtags, comment and talk to other food blog influencers. Who inspired you to get into food: To both, my family. Favorite quote book or kitchen item: Good Food Great Business by Susie Wyshak Favorite kitchen items: I want to buy a kitchen aid mixer. Also a garlic press Ingredient by Ali Bouzari What’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten?: Banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery. The pepperoni roll Jessica Goldstein The best thing about being a graduate student: The flexibility, the diverse classes, and meeting amazing people in the food industry The worst thing: Being poor, the blend of work-life balance, not enough time to prepare for your career sinc eit’s only a year Do you have any advice for anyone to go to graduate school?: Do an internship or work a bit so you have some direction. The application process is not easy and no streamlined. Always remember to keep trying and reach out to people. What’s the best way to contact you?: ceb364@cornell.edu mam795@cornell.edu Instagram: nonfiction foods  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices