Source: SOUTHERN UNIV submitted to NRP
ENHANCING PRODUCE SAFETY FOR UNDER-SERVED FARMERS IN LOUISIANA
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1017147
Grant No.
2018-70020-28867
Cumulative Award Amt.
$149,688.00
Proposal No.
2018-05194
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2018
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2022
Grant Year
2018
Program Code
[A4182]- Regional FSMA Center
Recipient Organization
SOUTHERN UNIV
(N/A)
BATON ROUGE,LA 70813
Performing Department
Nutrition & Health
Non Technical Summary
The Southern University Ag Center team works tirelessly with historically underserved farmers in Louisiana. Most of these farmers live in rural and isolated areas of the state. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) produce safety rule and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) trainings are the two programs that can assist the farmers to reduce the risk of microbial contamination of fruits and vegetables during production, harvest, and packaging. These trainings have been offered in a2-day event in Louisiana. At the same time, the team at the SU Ag Center has not been able to offer the two-day trainings to the underserved farmers due to lack of funding. As a result, the trainings offered in Louisiana have not been uniform and consistent. Therefore, the long-term goal of "enhancing produce safety for underserved farmers in Louisiana" is to provide a two-day FSMA produce safety and standard GAP training focusing on underserved farmers. To accomplish the above goal, the specific objectives will be 1) To increase farmers' produce safety knowledge and market access by holding 10 (5 per year) FSMA produce safety in conjunction with GAP training over the 2-year period; 2) To increase the number of underserved farmers to develop and follow farm food safety plan; 3) To assist at least 20 farmers to improve their ability to properly carry out produce safety practices and apply for GAP certification program. Reducing food borne illness will be most successful if all farmers who grow and sell fruits and vegetables learn basic produce safety.
Animal Health Component
70%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
5%
Applied
70%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
7121499106034%
7122499106033%
7123999106033%
Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other; 3999 - Animal research, general; 2499 - Plant research, general;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of "enhancing produce safety for under served farmers in Louisiana" is to provide a two-day FSMA produce safety and standard GAP training focusing on underserved, small, minority, limited-resource,veterans and beginning farmers.The specific objectives are:1) To increase farmers' produce safety knowledge and market access by holding 10 (5 per year) FSMA produce safety in conjunction with GAP trainings over the 2-year period; 2) To increase the number of underserved farmers to develop and follow farm food safety plan; 3) To assist at least 20 farmers to improve their ability to properly carry out produce safety practices and apply for GAP certification program.
Project Methods
Methods: The GAP training will be added to the existing PSA training for underserved, minority and very small farmers. The activities below are necessary to accomplish each objectiveObjective 1. To enhance farmers' produce safety knowledge and market access by holding 10 (5 per year) PSA Grower Training in conjunction with GAP Training over the 2-year periodThe actions taken to accomplish the first objective will be as follow:Conduct at least 10 (5 per year) PSA Grower /GAP Trainings in late summer, fall and winter when there is a lull in growing (Time table).Collect Surveys from farmers who have completed produce safety training to learn what changes they have made in their produce safety operations, what topics they want to know more about and what type of training they prefer.Contact farmers, farmer's markets, and farmer organizations to offer PSA Grower /GAP trainings and other educational opportunities.Develop and disseminate fact sheets and produce safety procedure instructions.Conduct on-farm mini-trainings on topics chosen by participants.Evaluate all trainings with written surveys and get verbal feedback in conversations with farmers about trainings and resource materials.Collect, analyze and interpret dataShare what is learned, with farmers, other states and Southern Regional Center through articles, newsletters, publications, via mail, email, website, journals and local media.Objective 2) To increase the number of underserved farmers to develop and follow farm food safety plan.A slate of effective learning techniques for underserved farmers will be used for this project. Many of the older farmers in particular have limited education and low literacy levels. At this point only the PSA Grower Training is approved by FDA, so these farmers are faced with power point slides crammed with words, many of which are unfamiliar to them. When necessary, this project will offer the shorter, simpler small farmer produce safety trainings. This training is a 4-hour introduction that explains produce safety concepts and the language used. It has been offered twice in 2017. It has been a stepping-stone to PSA Growers Training. Most of the 2017 participants were not under the produce safety rule because their sales are below $25,000 per year. However, several of them later took the FSMA/PSA Grower Training so they would meet the FDA requirements. They wanted to meet the FDA criteria and they asked to be trained for GAP certification as well in case buyers or consumers ask about their produce safety practices.SU Ag Center personnel will also work with very small farmers to write a basic farm food safety plan more realistic to their needs. In order for farmers to understand some of the safety procedures some items mentioned in the presentations such as compost thermometers, pH strips, easy-clean harvest bins, and free initial water testing kits will be displayed. Instruction and hands-on experience in use of the equipment will take place. This will give the farmers a jump-start in new practices. The farmers will set up their farm food safety plan and start following the proper food safety procedure and as a result the risk of biological contamination will be reduced. Farmers who complete FSMA/PSA and GAP training and develop farm food safety plans will be eligible to receive incentives, based on their needs and willingness and participation in the program. Objective 3. To assist at least 20 farmers to improve their ability to properly carry out produce safety practices and apply for GAP certification program. The cost of GAP audits is a huge barrier for small farmers, so this project will contribute to the audit fee for up to 20 farmers who take FSMA/PSA and GAP trainings, based on their needs and willingness and participation in the program (maximum of 75% of the initial cost of GAP audit up to $1000.00 per farmer). The GAP certification will give access to new markets, so these farmers can expect to bring more income and thereby to pay for future audits. Writing a farm food safety plan as part of the training will prepare farmers for GAP certification and will indicate their compliance with FSMA. All resource materials will be provided at no charge, so as to remove a financial barrier for limited-resource farmers who want to attend trainings.After trainings are completed and a farm food safety plan is developed, follow-up is crucial for farmers to actually reduce risks on their farms. Additional training on produce safety procedures will be done by holding on-farm mini-trainings/follow ups. The topics will be chosen by the farmers. The mini-trainings will take place on a farm so that practices can be learned in real-time, with a limited number of participants, so everyone can have hands-on experience. These sessions will be targeted to farmers who have had training and want to understand how to implement good produce safety practices. Other farmers may be invited as a first step toward their participation in small farmer or PSA/GAP training (Time Table). Technical assistance will also be available to the farmers to help them put their produce safety procedures into effect. Local agricultural agents in different parishes in state of Louisiana will also be on call for technical assistance with growing the fruit and vegetable crops.Additional fact sheets and procedure directions for produce safety practices will be developed in plain language using pictures and drawings to make them easier to understand. These will be available as written documents, DVD, and pdfs. They will be distributed through person-to-person contact, mail, email, cell phone, SU Ag Center website, flash drive, and any other ways farmers desire. These documents will be designed as a reference that farmers can refer to and have it handy as needed. The farmers who have completed the training will be surveyed about topics on which they would like to have fact sheets and/or directions. Due to the trainings, other activities, and resource materials it is expected that farmers will know more about produce safety on their farms. Some of them will do at least one thing that reduces the risk of contamination. Some of the farmers will write and follow a farm food safety plan thereby reducing their risks substantially and will receive FSMA/PSA certification and GAP certification when they are ready.

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The farmers need assistance through produce safety trainings especially if they are growing produce that is consumed raw. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) produce safety training and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) workshops are the two programs that assist the farmers to reduce the risk of microbial contamination of fruits and vegetables during production, harvest, and packaging.These trainings enable them to practice proper procedures for food safety at all times.Therefore, the objectives were: 1. To enhance farmers' produce safety knowledge and market access by holding 10 (5 per year) Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Trainings in conjunction with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Trainings over the 2-year period, 2.To reduce produce safety risks by assisting at least 20 underserved farmers to develop and follow Food Safety Plans and 3. To assist at least 20 farmers to improve their ability to properly carry out produce safety practices and apply for GAP certification program. Therefore, the target audience for this project were underserved and minority farmers in Louisiana but we did not limit it just to the underserved and minority farmers. Any farmer who wanted to receive Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification could attend our workshops. Changes/Problems:One of the major changesto this project was the COVID-19 pandemic which changedthe way we appoached our farmers. Farmers have a hard time finding the time to leave their farms, therefore we reached them virtually. We provided all the educational materials and evaluations online. It was noticed that if the farmers had a computer and could attend the virtual trainings they learned better. We even had trainings for individual farmers on Zoom. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this project the PI, project coordinator and students had the opportunity to attend a number of trainings under FSMA and GAP trainings such as On Farm Readiness Review, soil workshop, mock audits (to assist the farmers in preparation for an audit and to gauge whether they are ready to be audited; the goal is for them to have a successful GAP audit), farm visits, meeting with auditors from USDA/LouisianaDepartment of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF), and also attended webinars on different topics related to GAP and FSMA. The personnel attended Small Farmers Conference and Parish Field Days atprivate farms in Shreveport and East Baton Rouge Parish. Farmers wereassisted with writing their FFSP and editing. They are in the implementation phase. Writing a FFSP assists the farmers in understanding the start to finish flow of their operation and implementing policies and procedures that support the safety of their products, workers, and business. It also helps them to be prepared for an audit if they choose to be GAP certified, which is a requirement from some of the buyers.These activities will result in the underserved farmers that we target gaining the knowledge and resources they need to be able to compete, succeed, and excel in providing safe produce to the market/buyers and reduce food-borne illnesses thus increasing their profitability. Also, twenty-two students have gained knowledge and hands on experiences on developing educational materials, Produce Safety and Good Agricultural Practices. A few verbatim comments from training/workshop participants are: "Having the USDA GAP auditor here was excellent." "Every speaker went above and beyond to present the material in a manner that everyone can understand." "Great Workshop, Thank you!" How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this study have been disseminated through local communities, Louiana Department of Ag, Southern University Ag Center and LSU Ag Center websites, by word-of-mouth from farmers, presenting at the various conferences, field days and AFDO website. An educational material was developed which enhanced understanding of the differences between FSMA and GAP with collaboration from AFDO and other agencies. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This project ended in August of 2022. However, we are planning as the continuationof this work to conduct follow up visits to the farms and make sure the Farm Food Safety Plans are complete and they are implementing the procedures that they have set forth.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Southern University Ag Center's Nutrition and Health Program Received a grant titled "Enhancing Produce Safety for Underserved Farmers in Louisiana" to conduct food safety trainings to underserved farmers. Thirty-seven farmers have attended a PSA Grower training and received a certificate from Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and twenty one have attended a GAP workshop. In 2019, the project coordinator, PI and students hadmodified and developed a Farm Food Safety Plan (FFSP), FFSP check list and guide, GAP PowerPoint presentations, GAP knowledge assessment, GAP training evaluation, customizable farm map activity board, and a Farm Map Risk Assessment Placemat. Also, in 2019 the project coordinator attended two GAP audits with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) USDA licensed auditor. The project staff has published a poster and three fact sheets to inform the public, extension personnel, and the farmers on teaching challenges and key areas/topics that are farm food safety concerns. The PI and project coordinator attended several conferences, meetings, trainings and events and shared the information with the public and extension community in Louisiana and beyond.We held 10 FMSA trainings in Conjunction with GAP workshops and assisted 17 farmers either face-to-face or virtually to write their Farm Food Safety Plans.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: www.suagcenter.com under FSMA and Gap training tabs
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Double-sided Placemat: Do's & Don'ts of Produce Safety for Farmers
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Double-sided Flyer: Proper Handwashing Techniques


Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience were beginner farmers very very small and very small farmers who were planning to sell their produce to farmer's market in Rustin LA. Changes/Problems:We all have faced challenges during the pandemic. For this project we were not able to have face to face meetings with our farmers to assess them in their risk assessment and developing their farm food safety plan. Another challenge was to ship all the binders and other educational materials to the participants ahead of time so they can have it and use it during virtual worshops,In face to face classes we provided computers to the patrticipants and they would work on their farm food safety plan with us helping them. In the virtual setting that was a challenge. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have been working closely withstate auditor and the project coordinator has attended a number of actual auditings to get more familiar with what the farmers need in order to follow all the food safety procedure correctly to pass the audit. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The information has been shared with others through word ofmouth, social media, website (www.suagcenter.com) and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry's website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are planning to have at least 2 GAP workshops, work closely (if pandemic allows) with farmers who have been attending our worshops in the past to develop their farm food safety plan, and developmore educational materials so the farmers can easily train their staff as well.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We conducted three GAP workshops (one face to face, two virtual) and a total of 40 farmers attended the workshops and received certification of completetion. Five people developed their farm food safety plan and they were getting ready to be audited.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Placemats with correct farming practices and wrong farming practices were distributed to farmers at the GAP trainings. www.suagcenter.com
  • Type: Other Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2022 Citation: www.suagcenter.com
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2022 Citation: Farm Food Safety Plan guide and template was modified and developed and used in the GAP workshops.


Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:underserved, beginner and minority farmers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The PI and project coordinator attended several conferences, meetings, and events. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?poster presenation at the Southern Regional Annual Conference on 2019, three fact sheets through different avenues such as website and Ag days, Field days, Gardening workshops (2019), Southern University Small Farmers Conference (2019), power point presenation at Fruits and Vegatable Conference (southern reional meeting) January 2020 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1.. Conduct more GAP workshops when is possible (because of COVID-19 no workshop has been done since March) 2. Continue to assist the farmers that have been in the workshops to develop, finish and implement their Farm Food Safety Plan through phone calls, emails, and face to face meeting and visits when is allowed because of COVID-19. 3. Mock audit when is allowed in order to prepare the farmers to be audited successfully in order to receive their GAP certification 4. To assist the farmers financially for their first audit 5. To cllect more pre and post test in order to have enough data for publication

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Thirty-seven farmers have attended a PSA Grower training and received a certificate from Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and sixteen have attended ta GAP workshop. In 2019, the project coordinator, PI and students has modified and developed. Also, in 2019 the project coordinator attended two GAP audits with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) USDA licensed auditor. The project staff has published a poster and three fact sheets to inform the public, extension personnel, and the farmers on teaching challenges and key areas/topics that are farm food safety concerns. The PI and project coordinator attended several conferences, meetings, trainings and events and shared the information with the public and extension community in Louisiana and beyond. Four farmers are currently being assisted with writing their FFSP. Two farmers have had their FFSPs edited, they are in the implementation phase. Witting a FFSP assists the farmers in understanding the start to finish flow of their operation and implementing policies and procedures that support the safety of their products, workers, and business. It also helps them to be prepared for an audit if they choose to be GAP certified, which is a requirement from some of the buyers. Two Mock Audits have been scheduled to assist the farmers in preparation for an audit and to gauge whether they are ready to be audited. The goal is for them to have a successful GAP audit. These activities will result in the underserved farmers that we target to gain the knowledge and resources to be able to compete, succeed, and excel in providing safe produce to the market/buyers and reduce food-borne illnesses thus increasing their probability. Twenty-two students have gained knowledge and hands on experiences on developing educational materials, Produce Safety and Good Agricultural Practices. A few comments from training/workshop participants are: "Having the USDA GAP auditor here was excellent." "Every speaker went above and beyond to present the material in a manner that everyone can understand." "Great Workshop, Thank you!"

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: in the conference proceeding, Southern Regional Annual Conference in San Antonio TX
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Comparing PSA/FSMA and GAP/USDA fact sheet www.suagcenter.com
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) Fact sheet www.suagcenter.com
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Produce Wash Water SOP www.suagcenter.com
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Placemat on safe practices in the farm on one side and wrong safety practices on the other side to be distributed to the farmers


Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:We have been working a majority of the time during this period with underserved, minority farmers, small and limited resource producers. Changes/Problems:It took us from October of 2018 to March of 2019 to hire qualified personnel. We anticipate submitting a no-cost extension request for the project next year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The cost of GAP audits is a huge barrier for small farmers, so this project will contribute to the audit fee for up to 20 farmers who take FSMA/PSA and GAP trainings, based on their needs and willingness and participation in the program (maximum of 75% of the initial cost of GAP audit up to $1000.00 per farmer).The GAP certification will give access to new markets, so these farmers can expect to generate more income to their businesses and thereby to pay for future audits.Attendeesparticipated and learnedhow to writea farm food safety plan as part of the training which will prepare farmers for GAP certification and will indicate their compliance with FSMA.All resource materialsare to be provided at no charge, so as to remove a financial barrier for limited-resource farmers who want toparticipate in thetrainings. After trainings are completed and a farm food safety plan is developed, follow-up is crucial for farmers to actually reduce risks on their farms.Additional training on produce safety procedures will be done by holding on-farm mini-trainings/follow ups. The topics will be chosen by the farmers.The mini-trainings will take place on a farm so that good practices canbe learned inreal-time, with a limited number of participants, so everyone can fully participate in and havehands-on experience.These sessions will be targeted to farmers who have had training and want to understand how to implement good produce safety practices.Other farmers may be invited as a first step toward their participation in small farmer or PSA/GAP training. Technical assistance will also be available to the farmers to help them put their produce safety procedures into effect.Local agricultural extension agents in several parishesof thestate of Louisiana will also be on call for technical assistance with growing the fruit and vegetable crops.This is a great opportunity for farmers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?It took up to the month of March to bring the new personnel on board.We have conducted one training so far.It is anticipated that at least two fact sheets and a posterwill be published and shared with farmers.We have been sharinginformation about findingsthrough presentations at different farmer related events at Southern University and other areas in the state of Louisiana. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Conduct at least 4PSA Grower /GAP trainings in late summer, fall and winter when there is usually a lull in growing. Continue to collect surveys from farmers who have completed produce safety training to learn about what changes they have made in their produce safety operations, what topics they want to know more about and what types of training they prefer. Contact farmers, farmer's markets, and farmer organizations to offer PSA Grower /GAP trainings and other educational opportunities. Develop and disseminate at least 2 fact sheets and produce safety procedure instructions. Conduct on-farm mini-trainings on topics chosen by participants. Evaluate all trainings with written surveys and obtain verbal feedback during conversations with farmers about trainings and resource materials. Collect, analyze and interpret data. Share study findings with farmers, other states and Southern Regional Center through articles, newsletters, publications, via postal mail, email, website postings, journals,local and social media.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Conducted oneProducer Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower and several Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) trainings in June of 2019. Collected completed surveys from farmers who have attended the produce safety training to learn what changes they have made in their produce safety operations, what topics they want to know more about and what types of GAP training they need the most. Contacted farmers, farmer's markets, and farmer organizations to offer PSA Grower /GAP trainings and other educational opportunities. Conducted on-farm mini trainings on topics chosen by participants on June 19, 2019. Evaluated all trainings with written surveys and obtained verbal feedback in conversations with farmers about trainings and resource materials. We collected and assembled datapertaining to the project. Will share what is learned with farmers, other states and Southern Regional Center through a presentation and poster in October 2019 at the regional meeting.

Publications