Purpose: The Produce Safety Alliance was created to develop a national fresh produce safety curriculum and training program for fresh produce farmers, federal regulators, and industry personnel to improve the understanding and implementation of food safety practices on the farm.
Methods: A diverse group of produce industry representatives including farmers participated in ten working committees (WCs) tasked with identifying critical challenges to implementation and effective risk reduction practices in the effort to help farmers establish meaningful on-farm food safety programs. WCs met on a monthly basis using conference calls for open discussion. All notes and recommendations were documented and made publically available through the PSA website.
Results: Since May of 2011, 60 meetings have been held with over 170 working committee members who have identified unique challenges and on-farm risks specific to small farms and evaluated current science recommendations to determine their impact on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) recommendations. Each WC developed recommendations and submitted final reports that will guide curriculum development and training delivery. The WCs established a network of individuals that will provide a conduit for the distribution, outreach, and engagement of a nationally-recognized produce safety training program.
Significance: A significant effort was focused on including small farm owners as well as a large portion of the fresh produce industry in the review of current GAPs recommendations. All fresh produce growers, regardless of size, need to be committed to understanding and implementing food safety practices since they produce food.