On-Farm Food Safety Workshops Offered to Produce Growers, Educators
As demand grows for locally and regionally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, buyers are increasingly asking Montana’s produce farmers for assurance that they are using food-safety practices on the farm. Farmers need to be aware that even if they are exempt under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act – if a buyer requires a food safety plan; farmers will need to comply, in order to sell to that buyer.
Buyers likely to require farmers to have an on-farm food safety (GAP) plan include grocers, restaurants, farmers markets, CSAs, schools, hospitals and other fresh produce buyers.
To help farmers provide needed assurance, the International Organic Inspectors Association is hosting three workshops in Montana that will provide training on Good Agricultural Practices for food safety, in Chico Hot Springs (March 26), Great Falls (March 30), and Helena (April 1).
The workshops are designed for but not limited to: produce farmers, county sanitarians, Cooperative Extension agents and other agricultural educators, farmers market managers, food safety auditors, organic inspectors, food retailers, restaurant owners, farm workers and interns, farm-to-institution staff and agricultural service providers.
The workshops trainings will teach participants about on farm fresh fruit and vegetable food safety rules and regulations, how to assess the factors affecting food safety, how risk is managed on farms and how food safety audits are conducted and scored.
Each of the trainings is a six-hour course, limited to 20 participants per course.
This training is free to all fruit and vegetable growers and any participant who is directly connected to fresh fruit and vegetable producers. Residents of Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota or Wyoming, are eligible for the free registration. For those who do not fit into one of the categories or states listed above, the cost of the training is $450.00
For those participants pursuing a certificate for on farm food safety training or for a Regional Independent Verifier, the course will also include a pre-course assignment and post-course exam.
The workshops are funded in part by a Montana Department of Agriculture USDA Specialty Crop grant in partnership with the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center, based in Ronan.
For More information about the workshop and to register go to: http://www.ioia.net/schedule_onsite.html
For more information about the course contact Jonda Crosby at 406-227-9161or jcrosby@mt.net .
More about the course:
The training uses GAP Audit Guidelines and Checklists to verify food safety compliance. The course will be taught by a certified GAP Auditor (Jonda Crosby) and Karen Troxell California expert with experience in all aspects of fresh fruit and vegetable processing, farming and food safety.
Participants will learn and understand:
* Current food safety requirements.
* Factors affecting food safety requirements today.
* How food safety Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) Audits are conducted.
* Role of traceability in food safety audits.
* Relationship between ground history & food safety.
* Food safety risk factors related to fertilizer and soil fertility inputs.
* Food safety risk factors for irrigation water.
* How handling of crop pesticides may affect food safety.
* Hygiene requirements for those working in fields or packing crops.
* Food safety rules associated with harvesting.
* Key points that allow for a successful audit.
The course will include practice scenarios of food safety auditing, group exercises, lots of time for Q & A.
Participants will leave with a link to literally 100 food safety resources available to them for future reference in their work.