Assessing Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Florida Master Gardener Volunteers

Introduction: Master Gardener (MG) is one of the most well-known volunteer programs in North America. Most MG volunteer training curricula cover a wide range of subjects related to horticulture. In return, the volunteers provide services to counties by assisting with horticulture oriented projects such as community and school gardens. Food safety is not a major focus for Florida MG volunteers, even though they often prepare food for fundraising activities. Without sufficient food safety training, this could be a potential risk.

Purpose: We proposed to assess the food safety knowledge, attitude, and practices among the active Florida MG volunteers.

Methods: A 40-item online survey was developed, validated, and distributed to the currently active volunteers in October 2016, following the current recommended research methodology. One thousand twelve completed responses were analyzed.

Results:  Eighty percent of the respondents were female, age 60 or older with college or post-graduate degrees. Overall, the respondents demonstrated good knowledge about time-temperature control and some common risk factors for foodborne illness, but they were not well aware of some key minimum safe internal temperatures for specific foods. Among key behaviors, the respondents reported washing hands before cooking (68%), washing produce before consumption (76%), and using recommended thawing practices (76%). However, the respondents (80%) reportedly used a thermometer less frequently than recommended to monitor the internal temperature of meat products during cooking. Among other issues, >50% of respondents, especially the female MGs, perceived that pesticide and antibiotic residues are serious food safety problems in the United States.

Significance: This study revealed food safety knowledge gaps among Florida MG volunteers, and the necessity for food safety education along with MGs’ horticulture training.