EDITOR’S NOTE: Nineteen students in a fall 2025 Clemson University journalism course completed four interrelated stories about recent changes in food grade safety inspections conducted by the state Department of Agriculture. The project class was taught by Senior Lecturer Mike Pulley in the English Department and sponsored by the university’s Pearce Center for Professional Communication and its Client-Based Program. The students obtained food grade inspection data from the state’s website, converted it to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed the data for the 517 restaurants in Pickens County using advanced Excel formulas.

Pickens County restaurant owners and managers don’t always agree on what changed after the shift of food safety inspections from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to the state Department of Agriculture on July 1, 2024.

Some believe new inspectors are tougher while others barely noticed a difference, butmost agree inspections aren’t happening as often.

Restaurants, mobile food units, grocery stores, cafeterias, and delis are graded based on how well they follow state food safety regulations. Inspectors evaluate proper food storage, equipment sanitation, temperature contr

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