Non Technical Summary
One of every six Americans, 48 million people, contract foodborne illnesses annually (Scallan and others, 2011). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that foodborne illnesses cost more than $15.6 billion each year (CDC, 2018). Numerous studies have posited that the safety of our food supply depends on the "food safety culture" in the workplace (Griffith and Redmond, 2009; Griffith and others, 2010; Powell and others, 2011). However, the establishment of a strong food safety culture is not an easy task. For growers and food processors, the food safety landscape can be complicated and contradictory. The implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has brought increased focus to the documentation of food safety management plans. Agricultural operations must balance these regulations (e.g., FMSA Produce Rule) with adherence to Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) as well as requirements dictated by their private sector customers. Food processors must comply with their portion of FSMA (Preventive Controls Rule) in addition to other regulations depending on their product, state, etc. Even those who may be exempt from FSMA requirements (small farms or food producers by sales or industries covered under other food safety systems such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) are increasingly finding it necessary to demonstrate compliance with the new regulations as well, to maintain customer relationships.Particularly for smaller businesses, adapting to new regulations involves a primary focus on understanding the requisites associated with the demonstration of compliance. This part of the process can be taxing on producers financially and can have an adverse effect on the organizational food safety culture, especially if reasons for the requirements are not entirely understood (Yapp & Fairman, 2006). Small operations and producers of niche products find their difficulties further compounded by a lack of commodity-specific resources. Maine is a state with strong agricultural heritage, characterized by ties to regional foods (wild blueberries, lobster, maple syrup, etc.). Often the state's food producers find themselves struggling to adapt guidance developed for larger volume products to their operations. Another quirk of the state's food systems is the recent legislative success of residents championing the cause of food sovereignty. Following an unsuccessful attempt in 2016, L.D. 725, "An Act to Recognize Local Control Regarding Food and Water Systems" was signed into law by Governor Paul Lepage in June 2017 (L.D. 725 - State of Maine Senate 128th Legislature). This legislation allows municipalities to sanction the unlicensed direct sale of foods "grown, produced or processed" within its borders, and is indicative of a belief that food safety is a naturally occurring phenomenon when growers are "trustworthy."Within state borders, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service is uniquely positioned to promote the cause of food safety, owing to a high level of awareness and credibility. Our Extension service is the largest in New England and interfaces with hundreds of residents, foods business, and farmers annually, offering information and recommendations on diverse topics. The credibility of the University and its Extension service can be put to good use to address the underpinnings of a functional food safety culture among our growers and processors. This project aims to establish a trusted resource providing informal, accessible, applied information to explain the purpose behind food safety legislation. We hope to induce a positive change in attitude to feed an organizational culture that will drive compliance and to enhance receptiveness of participants in formal training environments by providing stakeholders with the "why" behind the "what."

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
712	5010	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Goals / Objectives
In this project, we have the following goals:1. To work directly with Maine food businesses to assess persistent challenges in employee knowledge, attitude, and behavior concerning food safety concepts.2. To develop short educational videos featuring a blend of live-action footage and animations (infotoons) that handily explain abstract concepts relevant to food safety in multiple languages as well as why such concepts are important for day-to-day activities.3. To implement developed content as delivery aids in both adult learning (Extension) and college classes.4. To evaluate the efficacy of the infotoons in conveying knowledge as well as their effects on attitude and behavior.

Project Methods
This project seeks to enhance understanding of the scientific principles underpinning the applied condition of "food safety" in populations of growers, producers, processors and their employees, and to emphasize its relevance to stakeholders. By explaining the how and the what of risks inherent in different types of food products, this educational program will provide background justification for the regulatory requirements that color the daily work of food-sector professionals.Within food systems, the majority of participants are unlikely to have extensive formal education in scientific underpinnings crucial to the production of safe food. Various other factors, including temporary or migratory workforces, language barriers, and lack of guidance addressing niche or regional products further complicate the provision of adequate training in many cases. Conveying knowledge about abstract concepts or mechanisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye, such as microbial growth through exponential multiplication, or how sanitizers inactivate microorganisms, is one of the most significant challenges when creating educational materials about food safety. This challenge comes from the inability to easily show progression in time and movement when explaining such abstract concepts (Ainsworth and VanLabeke, 2004; Lowe, 2004). Static drawings with arrows and other notations have been used to demonstrate changes in time or movement, but this approach puts the cognitive workload on the learner to manipulate drawings in their minds as they change (Lowe, 2004). Animations can remove such load from the learners, allowing them to focus on the concepts being depicted (Ainsworth and VanLabeke, 2004; Lowe, 2004). Although not the perfect tool for education (Lowe, 2004), animations have been shown to increase the gain in knowledge (Ercan et al., 2014). Animations may also be valuable when training workers of low literacy or first-language different from the educator.The presentation of this content in an approachable, positively structured context will enhance learner engagement with the material, moving away from the threatening tone often used to convey messages of risk. In an attempt to move away from the knowledge-deficit model of training, modules will emphasize understanding and retention by tying concepts to tangible outcomes for commodities of focus. By hosting this content in perpetuity in publicly accessible locations (UMaine Cooperative Extension web portal and other broadly accessible platforms), free of charge, we will amplify the reach of the products. As an example, an educational aid called Lobster Diver (a math education game) created in past collaborations between the NMSU Learning Games Lab and UMaine Cooperative Extension has been downloaded more than 1 million times (https://extension.umaine.edu/4h/youth/fun-stuff/).Starting from the premise that there is a need (ascribed need) for training tools that reduce the cognitive load placed on trainees, a needs assessment will be conducted to ascertain which concepts identified by the educators involved in this study are relevant to the clientele to be served. A survey about concepts to serve as the focus of the training materials will be shared with multiple stakeholders that include regulatory (i.e. Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry), Extension (e.g., educators from UMaine and partners in other land-grant institutions), industry associations (i.e., Maine Wild Blueberry Advisory Committee), and the farmers and food processors themselves. Educational modules will be developed by a collaborative team of food safety experts and education and animation specialists with guidance from commodity groups and local food businesses. The NMSU Learning Games Lab has an established design and development process, which includes studying audience needs, identifying educational goals, planning and prototyping, and formative testing to assess user experience. By testing with the target audience during development, the team will refine educational and quality-of-experience goals to better meet the educational needs and media tastes of the targeted group.By focusing on fundamental concepts that contribute to the production of safe foods, modules will retain relevance to growers and producers regardless of operation size, while seeking to support small operations. Further, by focusing on regionally relevant commodities (i.e., wild blueberry, seaweed, value-added seafood), this content will be directly aimed at underserved producers. With this approach, we expect an increase in knowledge and possible changes in attitudes and behavior.Modules will consist of combinations of video, animation, and text in short form. All videos will be captioned to ensure accessibility for viewers with auditory impairment. Each module will cover a distinct topic of relevance to the higher goal of safe food production. Topics will focus on applied science, such as explaining how pathogens are introduced to fresh produce or a food processing facility or why specific regulated practices increase safety. As opposed to providing industry members with information about the legislation itself, this effort will focus on building viewer knowledge and enhancing food safety understanding to improve risk perception (Parker et al., 2012). The target clientele and other stakeholders can use this content as a sort of video FAQ, a crash course in why it is worth their time to put extra effort into procedures that at first may seem like hoops to jump through. We hope to further the notion that everyone involved acts as partners in the ability of the food system to produce safe food for the population (Ivey et al., 2012; Parker et al., 2012). By starting this conversation outside of a formal training environment, and paying particular attention to false beliefs (e.g., the assumed lower risk of foods that are local or from a known farm or company), we hope to enact a shift in perception. Modules will introduce resources that can be used as tools in multiple current and future Extension trainings as well as introductory college classes. Finished videos will be housed on the University of Maine Cooperative Extension website and other platforms and will be made freely available.Data collection will include page and video views by date as well as basic demographic information about age, geography, and viewing environment as collected by Google's analytics services. To assess the effectiveness of the content developed, knowledge, attitude, and behavior assessments will be administered (on a voluntary basis) using the "post-then-pre" evaluation approach (Rockwell and Kohn 1989). Trainees that watch the material will be asked to fill out an online survey as evaluation. Participation in the evaluation will be voluntary, anonymous, and IRB approved. Surveys will be created using the Qualtrics platform and IP addresses will not be collected. Data will be downloaded to researchers' computers for statistical analysis. These are work computers that are password protected and use data encryption. Data will be deleted from computers two years after the end of the project. Data from the Qualtrics online platform will be deleted at the same time. Peer-reviewed publications created with data from the project will never identify participants.Results dissemination is expected to begin during the Fall quarter 2020 to allow adequate time for data collection. According to the timeline below, this schedule will allow a full year of public use as well as evaluation by two cohorts of college students (in Fall 2019 and 2020, expected to total 60+) and in Extension classes when appropriate during the project duration (expected 80+).