How to Build a Proactive Food Safety Culture (That Auditors Love)
December 2, 2025
What if leading with empathy and mindfulness could transform your food safety culture? In this episode of Food Tech Talk: Supply Chain Insights from Farm to Fork, host Lydia Adams sits down with Lora Stone, a seasoned food safety and quality leader, to explore why building team buy-in matters more than compliance checklists, how to navigate regulatory change without sacrificing morale, and the key strategies to embed food safety culture through authentic leadership. Whether you're managing multiple certifications, leading teams through industry shifts, or seeking to strengthen your organizational culture, this conversation is packed with actionable insights on balancing accountability with empathy, leveraging mindfulness in high-pressure situations, and collaborating across the industry to drive meaningful progress. Tune in to discover how intentional leadership and clear communication can turn regulatory demands into opportunities for team alignment and shared purpose.
Trustwell reConnect On-Demand is here! 🖥️
If you work in the food industry, you know that staying ahead of regulations is a constant battle. That’s where Trustwell reCONNECT On-Demand comes in.
We recently hosted our annual virtual summit, bringing together hundreds of industry experts to discuss the future of food safety, traceability, and compliance. Now, you can access the entire library of sessions, featuring actionable insights from brands like Taco John's and Wawa, focusing on everything from FSMA 204 compliance to quality management and supply chain resilience.
Don't miss out on the strategies you need to lead your team. Access the full reCONNECT On-Demand library for free by visiting: trustwell.com/reconnect
In this episode of Food Tech Talk: Supply Chain Insights from Farm to Fork, host Lydia Adams is joined by Lora Stone, a food safety and quality leader with more than 15 years of experience. Lora shares how her grounding in mindfulness practices—shaped through formal training and inspired by influential books such as The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn—supports her approach to leadership, communication, and decision-making in high-pressure regulatory environments.
Lora explains how connecting teams to the “why” behind food safety regulations builds genuine buy-in and helps employees understand that every rule exists because something once happened to protect consumers. She walks through her model for managing multiple certifications—including GFSI, FSMA, Kosher, Organic, and Halal—by integrating requirements into existing programs instead of creating separate systems. She also discusses the power of slowing down, using intentional pauses, and approaching challenges with clarity to improve problem-solving during operational or regulatory pressure.
The conversation highlights how leaders can balance accountability and morale by staying engaged with their teams, supporting them through challenges, and using open communication to understand individual perspectives. Lora also explores the increasing emphasis on management commitment and food safety culture in upcoming GFSI audit schemes, as well as the importance of early planning, cross-functional collaboration, and transparent communication to stay ahead of regulatory change rather than reacting to it.
Trustwell reConnect On-Demand is here! 🖥️
If you work in the food industry, you know that staying ahead of regulations is a constant battle. That’s where Trustwell reCONNECT On-Demand comes in.
We recently hosted our annual virtual summit, bringing together hundreds of industry experts to discuss the future of food safety, traceability, and compliance. Now, you can access the entire library of sessions, featuring actionable insights from brands like Taco John's and Wawa, focusing on everything from FSMA 204 compliance to quality management and supply chain resilience.
Don't miss out on the strategies you need to lead your team. Access the full reCONNECT On-Demand library for free by visiting: trustwell.com/reconnect
Connect with the team:
👉 Lydia Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiaadams/
👉 Trustwell: https://www.trustwell.com/
👉 Lora Stone on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lora-stone/
Helpful Links & References
👉 The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
👉 Wherever You Go, There You Are – Jon Kabat‑Zinn
You can also listen to our podcast here:
👉 Apple - https://apple.co/47afWXM
👉 Spotify - https://bit.ly/4lIA1KP
👉 YouTube - https://bit.ly/3YpdUQW
👉 Fame Host - https://foodtechtalk.co
Lora explains how connecting teams to the “why” behind food safety regulations builds genuine buy-in and helps employees understand that every rule exists because something once happened to protect consumers. She walks through her model for managing multiple certifications—including GFSI, FSMA, Kosher, Organic, and Halal—by integrating requirements into existing programs instead of creating separate systems. She also discusses the power of slowing down, using intentional pauses, and approaching challenges with clarity to improve problem-solving during operational or regulatory pressure.
The conversation highlights how leaders can balance accountability and morale by staying engaged with their teams, supporting them through challenges, and using open communication to understand individual perspectives. Lora also explores the increasing emphasis on management commitment and food safety culture in upcoming GFSI audit schemes, as well as the importance of early planning, cross-functional collaboration, and transparent communication to stay ahead of regulatory change rather than reacting to it.
Trustwell reConnect On-Demand is here! 🖥️
If you work in the food industry, you know that staying ahead of regulations is a constant battle. That’s where Trustwell reCONNECT On-Demand comes in.
We recently hosted our annual virtual summit, bringing together hundreds of industry experts to discuss the future of food safety, traceability, and compliance. Now, you can access the entire library of sessions, featuring actionable insights from brands like Taco John's and Wawa, focusing on everything from FSMA 204 compliance to quality management and supply chain resilience.
Don't miss out on the strategies you need to lead your team. Access the full reCONNECT On-Demand library for free by visiting: trustwell.com/reconnect
Connect with the team:
👉 Lydia Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiaadams/
👉 Trustwell: https://www.trustwell.com/
👉 Lora Stone on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lora-stone/
Helpful Links & References
👉 The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
👉 Wherever You Go, There You Are – Jon Kabat‑Zinn
You can also listen to our podcast here:
👉 Apple - https://apple.co/47afWXM
👉 Spotify - https://bit.ly/4lIA1KP
👉 YouTube - https://bit.ly/3YpdUQW
👉 Fame Host - https://foodtechtalk.co
Food Tech Talk: Supply Chain Insights From Farm to Fork is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
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Check out our three most downloaded episodes: