Purpose: The purpose is to provide a standardized curriculum, training format, and outreach strategy to help farmers prepare to meet the first ever fresh produce regulation. There are approximately 189,000 fresh produce farms in the United States. While not all of these farms will be subject to the regulation, they all provide fresh produce for consumption and therefore impact public health.
Methods: Curriculum learning objectives and content were developed through data collected from eight nationwide farmer focus groups (2013) and the PSA Working Committee process (2011-13) which included a total of 72 meetings involving 178 members comprised of farmers, extension educators, researchers, and produce industry personnel. The PSA Educators Group, currently representing 44 states, has identified challenges and proposed solutions to reaching farmers across the country.
Results: A seven hour curriculum designed to be delivered in one day to farmers and regulators has been developed. Critical challenges in education and outreach have been identified including lack of funding to provide training for farmers, geographical accessibility to farmers, and availability of qualified educators to conduct trainings. Solutions including the PSA train-the-trainer programs throughout the U.S. to build a cadre of qualified trainers and additional requests for funding to supplement outreach efforts to address these challenges are currently being put into action.
Significance: Understanding and overcoming barriers to delivering food safety training will increase farmers’ ability to meet regulatory and market requirements for food safety and help prevent fresh produce contamination, in turn protecting the health of those who consume fresh produce.