The market value of American grown produce continues to rise, and that’s good news for American famers. But foodborne illness outbreaks related to fresh produce pose a threat to farm operations.
Cooperative Extension at the country’s Land-grant Colleges and Universities offers vital resources to ensure that farmers have the tools they need to safely grow, harvest, process and ship their produce to market.
Extension provides critical training to reduce contamination of fresh produce through their Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) programs. Both GAP and FSMA focus on building systems to prevent contamination rather than responding after it occurs.
Recent Extension Program Highlights
- University of Georgia and Fort Valley State University agents guided 20 producers through a Demystifying the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Audit training program. The workshop covered best practices related to field sanitation and hygiene; worker health and hygiene; and effective recordkeeping. After the training, producers said they planned to adopt one or more practices.
- A Penn State Extension team is delivering training and other educational resources that will help Pennsylvania’s food and agricultural industry comply with FSMA. The team’s website includes guides, publications, articles and videos.
- North Carolina State University Extension has developed commodity-specific guidance that provides preventative on-farm practices to reduce the possibility of contamination. In addition to vegetables and fruits, there are guides for fresh herbs, mushrooms and greenhouse products.
- Purdue Extension offers Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training to help growers increase their postharvest handling and sanitation skills. Last year, more than 90% said they are more confident in implementing practices to address postharvest handling and sanitation risks.
- Oklahoma State University Extension partnered with Pawnee Nation College to offer training in food production and safety as well as technical assistance to food related Tribal projects. After receiving training in food production, safe processing, regulatory compliance and business setup, the Pawnee Seed Preservation Society launched a food business producing freeze-dried traditional Pawnee foods.
