Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to assess the current pre- and post-harvest food safety knowledge of Farmers Market participants in Iowa.
Methods: During two farmers market workshops given in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dubuque, Iowa, 68 farmers were asked to complete a survey that assessed their level of confidence with basic pre- and post-harvest food safety concepts (e.g., cross contamination, vectors of contamination, water/manure handling, temperature control, personnel, microbial testing, sanitation, food safety plan). The survey was scaled as none, low, moderate or high understanding of the specific concept and had blanks for the participants to provide examples for further assessment of understanding.
Results: Results from surveys indicate that there is a need to more food safety education to smaller farmers that participate in farmers markets. Participants had none to low understanding temperature control (n=41), presence of personnel training (n=52), microbial testing methods (n=62), and how to clean (n=42). Knowledge of microorganism of concern, vectors contamination and manure use has the highest scores for understanding, and knowledge of a food safety plan and product handling after harvest being split between moderate and low.
Significance: Food safety education to small and medium sized farmers that participate in farmers markets is critical to aid in the reduction of foodborne outbreaks in the U.S. By revealing educational gaps, extension programs can be modified to emphasize those areas of food safety education.