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

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is small and very small farms (as defined by FSMA) in the Chesapeake region, with a focus on beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. For this reporting period, our efforts under all three of our objectives have reached a total of 310 farmers, 70% of whom are considered socially disadvantaged. Efforts have included conference based information sessions, webinars, on farm workshops with experiential learning opportunities, and shared instruction with extension personnel. ? Changes/Problems:The major change in our approach has been shifting to online learning and workshops to deliver our content. This has been due to COVID 19 restrictions on gatherings and to keep the safety of our constituents a priority. So far this has allowed us to reach a wider regional audience as well as increased our numbers of participants at each event. It has also changed our timeline to complete deliverables which has been outlined in our request for extension. The lack of travel and in person workshops has shifted our budget as well and we will use the extra travel and stipend money to create a more robust online workshop experience through hiring a videographer and updating the Chesapeake Harvest website. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As a result of this project, two (2) Food Safety Educators have been trained and are prepared to assist other regional producers with risk management for produce food safety. One of those FSE's has taken the PSA Train the Trainer course and has co taught a PSA Grower Training for urban farmers in Philadelphia. The two FSE's have also assisted the Lead Consultant Lindsay Gilmour with the planning, curriculum and teaching of one food safety module. One of the FSE's has conducted (2) on farm and web based risk assessments alongside Lindsay Gilmour and stepped into a project management role for this grant. The other is developing food safety education materials for urban farmers in Baltimore. This shows a strong emphasis on professional development as both of the year one FSE's have continued working in this field. The (2) new Food Safety Educators will continue their professional development throughout 2020 and have expressed a strong desire to continue developing professionally in the field of food safety.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our programs have been promoted through strategic partnerships with University Extension, Community Farms, and farm publications. With robust email and social media messaging, news of these opportunities has been distributed in targeted emails to more than 8,400 subscribers and to a social media audience of more than 6,700 followers. We have used the website of Future Harvest Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture to house our webinars and the Food Safety toolkit launched in 2019. ? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the extended grant period, we plan to finish our deliverables by Spring 2021, including the continued training of two (2) new Food Safety Educators, we have 1 more food safety based webinars with our partner Future Harvest to host. From January - February 2021 we put on 3 web based modules (mirroring the on-farm modules offered last year). We had 146 registrants and 84 participants in total for the 3 webinars. With switching our on farm programs to webinars, we hired a videographer to shoot video on farms with the food safety educators and farmers discussing and illustrating examples of the 3 module topics. This video content was edited, combined with live (virtual) training and turned into interactive webinars where participants got a tour of farm practices and were able to ask questions to the farmers and food safety educators. They will also be added to the online toolkit and placed on the future Chesapeake Harvest website. We plan to use evaluation surveys from the remaining programs to inform our curriculum for our recently awarded NIFA grant which will replicate and expand upon our past offerings to be relevant and useful to the small scale, beginning and minority farmers in our target audience. Additionally, the project may follow-up with the Food Safety Educators to collect information on the number of on-farm, culturally appropriate coaching, tools and solutions they provided to Chesapeake producers, and theirsuccess

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Product Type Audio or Video Description Recorded six (6) Food Safety webinars. These foundational webinars are designed for farmers who are just learning about produce food safety. We provide guidance on a range of topics pertaining to GAP and Produce Safety Rule (FSMA) in an easy to follow format. These files are housed with our Food Safety Toolkit and the Future Harvest website. Product Type Data and Research Material Description Project data is collected on training satisfaction and outcomes and is a result of data collection instruments, which are described under Evaluation and Survey Instruments. The data will benefit both the project and the participants by providing information that will help improve the training program. Product Type Databases Description Project data is currently stored and analyzed in an online database and will be exported to Excel to perform more sophisticated analyses. The database is a result of data collected via evaluation instruments, and will benefit the project and its participants. Product Type Educational Aids or Curricula Description Food Safety Toolkit - A curated resource that compiles baseline, foundational tools from many sources. It is designed to augment ongoing, regional produce safety workshops for new and beginning farmers, as well as free one-on-one consulting provided by food safety educators. Product Type Evaluation Instruments Description Fourteen (14) evaluation instruments were created during this reporting period. These instruments collected demographic data and training satisfaction information, as well as outcomes data (changes in knowledge), along with specific, knowledge- based data on topics related to food safety education. All instruments use a pre-/post training format for knowledge-based questions. What was accomplished under these goals? The long-term goal of this Community Outreach project,Expanding Farmer Education to Create a Culture of Food Safety in the Chesapeake Region, is to build a culture of food safety among specialty crop producers in the Chesapeake region through multi-level education and coaching centered on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR). It focuses on "very small" and "small" businesses as defined by FSMA. By educating producers about GAP and food safety risk reduction as foundational components of good farming and postharvest practices, the project seeks to change the predominate farmer mindset that food safety regulations and certification are optional and burdensome steps only necessary for to pass inspection or an audit. A culture of food safety means that most farmers understand that minimized risk and food quality are intertwined and that FSMA compliance or GAP certification are not only reasonable and attainable, but beneficial for farm operations. Helping farmers recognize the necessity of, and embrace the business case for, food safety will reduce fear, skepticism and/or dismissal of the topic, and encourage a positive culture around food safety. Integrated food safety risk assessment and protocols should be a lens through which farm infrastructure, personnel training, and operations are viewed, as a producer's business develops and expands. The project will advance this goal through three objectives: Build a culture of food safety by providing foundational education on good agricultural practices for 300 small and very small Chesapeake producers, with a focus on socially disadvantaged and/or beginner farmers; Enhance competitiveness and market reach of 30 very small and small specialty crop producers through advanced training to prepare them to comply with food safety laws and certifications, and enter wholesale markets; and Prepare four Food Safety Educators to provide on-farm, culturally appropriate coaching, tools and solutions to very small and small Chesapeake producers.

Publications

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is small and very small farms (as defined by FSMA) in the Chesapeake region, wtih a focus on beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. For this reporting period from 2018-2021, our efforts under all three of our objective have reached a total of 318farmers and agriculture service providers, 70% of whom are considered socially disadvantaged. Efforts have included conference based information sessions, webinars (including website based educational opportunities), on farm workshops with epxeriential learning opportunities, and shared instruction with etension personnel. 2018- 2019 • FH CASA Conference Workshop ("Wash Station Design and FSMA: How to improve your space to save time, save your back, and lessen food safety risks") - 34 attendees (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Winter Workshop (Food Safety 101) - 12 Farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Webinar (Demystifying Produce Food Safety) - 26 Farmers + 4 Ag Service Professionals (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH BTFP 1 @ Calvert's Gift - 20 Farmers (all beginner farmers) • FH BTFP 2 @ Crooked Fence - 14 Farmers (all beginner farmers) • FH BTFP 3 @ Coops & Crops - 22 Farmers + 3 Ag Service Professionals (all beginner farmers) • Module 1 (Land Use RA Abundant Grace Farm) - 10 Farmers + 5 Ag Service Professionals • Module 2 (Production Water PEC Community Farm) - 5 Farmers + 6 Ag Service Professionals • Module 3 (Worker Hygiene, Sanitation, Post Harvest Handling The Greener Garden) - Attendance 13 Farmers + 4 Agriculture Service Professionals Table 1b: Training Surveys No. No. Responding Trained 1 Culture of Food Safety (#3) 5 26 2 Culture of Food Safety Webinar (#2) 7 12 3 Agricultural Water Risk Assessment (#10) 1 5 4 Land Use Risk Assessment (#9) 10 10 5 Beginner Farmers (#s5,6,7) 19 20, 14, 22 6 Postharvest Handling (#8) 9 7 7 Worker Training (#11) 7 13 8 FSE Water Risk (#17) 2 2 9 FSE Land Risk (#16) 2 2 10 FSE Worker Training (#18) 4 2 11 Summative Survey 14 Aggregate Average 80 2019-2021 • FH CASA Conference One on One consultations -5 attendees (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Winter Workshop #1 (Food Safety 101) - 28 Farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Winter Workshop #2 (Food Safety 101)- 8 farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Webinar (Food Safety in the Time of COVID) - 97 registrants showed up but we don't have demographics • FH Webinar Food Safety and Livestock- 7 Farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) *• FH Webinar with Potomac Vegetable Farm - 8 Farmers +2 agriculture service providers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) Table 1a: Training by Level No. Attending 1 Beginning Farmer Training Program 30 2 Webinar: Raising Livestock Alongside Produce 39 3 Webinar: Safe & Essential at Farmers Markets 10 4 Webinar: Skillful Application of Manure-Based Composts 25 5 Webinar: Agricultural Water Risk Assessment Module 35 6 Webinar: Post-Harvest Handling 22 7 Webinar: Worker Training Sanitation: Post-Harvest Best Practices 19 8 Webinar: Evaluation for Land Use 37 Total Trained 217 2018-2021 Under objective 3 we enhanced competitive and market reach of 21 farmers producers through on farm risk assessments and food safety plan coaching. Changes/Problems:The biggest change to our program occured when COVID19 occured. We were able to quickly pivot our program so that the food safety education was provided through webinar/zoom. Prior to COVID19, we had begun utilizing Zoom to deliver food safety training and consulative services to our farmers significantly reducing the cost of providing the service while expanding our reach. Therefore, the changes that COVID19 brought about, while dramatic, did not impact us in our ability to provide services. We were able to take the savings from the travel budget and redeploy those funds to training and filming the trainings so that they would be available online in perpetuity on our website and on Youtube. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Project objectives were achieved by providing farmers and other participants with four (4) levels of food safety education and training: Level A: general and foundational food safety education via peer-to-peer and expert-led intensives and seminars Level B: in-depth information on FSMA compliance via workshops, remote support and on-farm experiential education to supplement federally-mandated classroom training Level C: one-on-one coaching with hands-on, personalized information to develop a comprehensive food safety program for their farms, and if they choose, become GAP Audit Ready Level D: train-the-trainer capacity building activities to prepare Food Safety Educators to expand coaching provided in Levels B and C. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information, including a Food Safety Tool Kit, multiple training videos and webinars, and additional information was fully captured on our www.chesapeakeharvest.com website. In order to disseminate this information to communities of interest, we created a comprehensive email list of target organizations and individuals and notified them through email driving their attention to the website. Over 600 individuals and organizationswere reached this way resulting in a number of follow up actvities to gain more information, additional food safety educational services, or community engagement. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In person and online food safety educational programming associated with "Expanding Farmer Education to Create a Culture of Food Safety in the Chesapeake Region" has reached more than 300 regional growers to date with thirteen (15) food safety educational opportunities (workshops and webinars) and one-on-one coaching through risk assessments and food safety planning. Programming is designed to increase knowledge and competence towards creating a culture of food safety on-farm. The in-person, web based, experiential events and the one-on-one coaching have been intentionally located across a wide geographic radius, to reach the broadest farming audience possible. Evaluation surveys confirm that we have achieved our goal of helping to create a culture of food safety in the Chesapeake region, with well over half of participants indicating improved levels of food safety understanding. Furthermore, we have created a curated Food Safety Toolkit which is housed on our website we built with NIFA funding. The website houses foundational information that will augment ongoing produce food safety education around the region. Food safety education for farmers and training community based food safety educators has become more important than ever in the face of COVID 19. Since our last annual report in August of 2019 we had to shift gears to put our workshops, modules and consultations online due to the COVID pandemic. This pandemic also made farmers and the public even more receptive to creating a culture of food safety. We were able to reach a larger and wider audience through webinars and online consultations with farmers. The provision of one on one coaching for farmers who wish to pursue GAP certification and who wish to create food safety plans is a specialized and unique regional resource that has garnered strong interest in the past year. We reached a total of 21 farmers through those efforts. The project was successful in advancing all three objectives. Quantitative and qualitative accomplishments are as follows: Objective #1: Throughout grant cycle we reached 318 farmers directly through are workshops, webinars and coaching. 70 percent of those growers identified as socially disadvantaged. From 2018-2019 survey findings indicate that as a result of the training, the large majority of participants (73%) were able to define a culture of food safety; and 63% reported they were ready to implement a culture of food safety. On average, participants level of readiness was 7.8 on a 10-point scale, where 1= not ready and 10= fully ready. More than half (52%) however, reported that they still could use more training or resources to be fully ready. As part of our planned initiatives and programs, Future Harvest offered the PSA Grower Training, and intensive, food safety training, as part of its 2020 winter conference. Through webinars we were able to continue offering more education and resources to more farmers in our networks and we reached even more than we would have with on farm workshops. In 2020-2021 webinar topics ranged from post harvest handling to food safety in the time of COVID. According to survey findings, each webinar increased participants knowledge raised at least one point from "fair and good" to "good and very good". We had low numbers of survey respondents because we did not administer the survey during the webinars and instead relied on email and survey monkey to administer the surveys. In order to reach an even larger audience that unfortunately cannot be captured in our evaluation, we created a website to house all of our webinars and the videos that we created to go along with each module. We had a robust press release and outreach program to drive traffic to the website. Objective #2: In 2018-2019 the project hosted 3 Level B Modules with 20 farmers and 15 agriculture service providers in attendance. The modules successfully prepared farmers and beginner farmers to comply with food safety laws and certifications. Survey findings (2018-2019) indicate that as a result of the training, the vast majority of participants (86%) understood the difference between GAP certification and FSMA regulations, FSMA produce safety rule and GAP certification programs; likewise, the large majority (71%) reported knowing the steps to certification. Percentages increased from 57% prior to the training. As of this report, consultant Lindsay Gilmour has provided one-on-one coaching for 21 farms through in-person, on-farm risk assessments, as well as remote training for 7 farmers who have developed food safety plans. Covid has has made it difficult to provide in person services this year including several risk assessments on farm visits but we were still able to use Zoom platform to connect with farmers. Objective #3: Additionally, from 2018-2019 the project successfully trained two (2) community based Food Safety Educators (FSEs) in land use risk assessment, agricultural water risk assessment, worker health and hygiene training, sanitation and post harvest handling. They helped to teach some of the on farm modules and webinars. Both trainees have attended the PSA Grower Training and one trainee has completed the PSA Train the Trainer course and is qualified to co-teach future PSA Grower Trainings. As a result of the training, in almost every case, knowledge increased from poor or fair to good, very good or excellent. That is, by the end of the 2020, 100% of the participants had a good to excellent understanding of the topics with one exception: the identification of practices that limit impact to environment, soil quality and wildlife habitats. However, each participant reported being comfortable with teaching all the topics. We brought on (2) more Food Safety Educator trainees in late 2019. They have undergone the PSA Grower Training and will attend and they helped to plan and teach the Level B modules in 2020. They are also worked with the first year cohort to create food safety education materials for urban farms in Baltimore.

Publications

• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: http://www.chesapeakeharvest.com/

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

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is small and very small farms (as defined by FSMA) in the Chesapeake region, with a focus on beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. For this reporting period, our efforts under all three of our objectives have reached a total of 310 farmers, 70% of whom are considered socially disadvantaged. Efforts have included conference-based information sessions, webinars, on farm workshops with experiential learning opportunities, and shared instruction with extension personnel. Events: 2019-2020 • FH CASA Conference One on One consultations -5 attendees (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Winter Workshop #1 (Food Safety 101) - 28 Farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) •FH Winter Workshop #2 (Food Safety 101)- 8 farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Webinar (Food Safety in the Time of COVID) - 97 registrants showed up but we don't have demographics • FH Webinar Food Safety and Livestock- 7 Farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) • FH Webinar with Potomac Vegetable Farm - 8 Farmers +2 agriculture service providers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) Changes/Problems:The major change in our approach has been shifting to online learning and workshops to deliver our content. This has been due to COVID 19 restrictions on gatherings and to keep the safety of our constituents a priority. So far this has allowed us to reach a wider regional audience as well as increased our numbers of participants at each event. It has also changed our timeline to complete deliverables which has been outlined in our request for extension. The lack of travel and in person workshops has shifted our budget as well and we will use the extra travel and stipend money to create a more robust online workshop experience through hiring a videographer and updating the Chesapeake Harvest website. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As a result of this project, two (2) Food Safety Educators have been trained and are prepared to assist other regional producers with risk management for produce food safety. One of those FSE's has taken the PSA Train the Trainer course and has co taught a PSA Grower Training for urban farmers in Philadelphia. The two FSE's have also assisted the Lead Consultant Lindsay Gilmour with the planning, curriculum and teaching of one food safety module. One of the FSE's has conducted (2) on farm and web based risk assessments alongside Lindsay Gilmour and stepped into a project management role for this grant. The other is developing food safety education materials for urban farmers in Baltimore. This shows a strong emphasis on professional development as both of the year one FSE's have continued working in this field. The (2) new Food Safety Educators will continue their professional development throughout 2020 and have expressed a strong desire to continue developing professionally in the field of food safety. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our programs have been promoted through strategic partnerships with University Extension, Community Farms, and farm publications. With robust email and social media messaging, news of these opportunities has been distributed in targeted emails to more than 8,400 subscribers and to a social media audience of more than 6,700 followers. We have used the website of Future Harvest Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture to house our webinars and the Food Safety toolkit launched in 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the extended grant period, we plan to finish our deliverables by December 2020, including the continued training of two (2) new Food Safety Educators, hosting 2 more food safety based webinars with our partner Future Harvest and creating 3 web based modules (mirroring the on-farm modules offered last year). We anticipate that we will achieve increased participation as word of the events and educational value gains additional traction and online web based offerings allow more people to participate from the safety and comfort of their home. With switching our on farm programs to webinars, we will be hiring a videographer to shoot video on farms with the food safety educators and farmers discussing and illustrating examples of the 3 module topics. This video content will be edited, combined with live (virtual) training and turned into interactive webinars where participants will get a tour of farm practices and be able to ask questions to the farmers and food safety educators. They will also be added to the online toolkit and placed on the future Chesapeake Harvest website. We plan to use evaluation surveys from the remaining programs to inform our curriculum for our recently awarded NIFA grant which will replicate and expand upon our past offerings to be relevant and useful to the small scale, beginning and minority farmers in our target audience. Additionally, the project may follow-up with the Food Safety Educators to collect information on the number of on-farm, culturally appropriate coaching, tools and solutions they provided to Chesapeake producers, and their success.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In person and online food safety educational programming associated with "Expanding Farmer Education to Create a Culture of Food Safety in the Chesapeake Region" has reached more than 300 regional growers to date with thirteen (13) food safety educational opportunities and one-on-one coaching. Programming is designed to increase knowledge and competence towards creating a culture of food safety on-farm. The in-person, web based, experiential events and the one-on-one coaching have been intentionally located across a wide geographic radius, to reach the broadest farming audience possible. Evaluation surveys confirm that we have achieved our goal of helping to create a culture of food safety in the Chesapeake region, with well over half of participants indicating improved levels of food safety understanding. Furthermore, we have created a curated Food Safety Toolkit with foundational information that will augment ongoing produce food safety education around the region. Food safety education for farmers and training community based food safety educators has become more important than ever in the face of COVID 19. Since our last annual report in August of 2019 we had to shift gears to put our workshops, modules and consultations online due to the COVID pandemic. This pandemic also made farmers and the public even more receptive to creating a culture of food safety. We were able to reach a larger and wider audience through webinars and online consultations with farmers. The provision of one on one coaching for farmers who wish to pursue GAP certification and who wish to create food safety plans is a specialized and unique regional resource that has garnered strong interest in the past year. The project was successful in advancing all three objectives. Quantitative and qualitative accomplishments are as follows: Objective #1: In the first half of the grant cycle 2018-2019 we reached more than 150 regional growers with 6 food safety educational opportunities, each designed to increase knowledge and competence towards creating a culture of food safety on-farm. 70 percent of those growers identified as socially disadvantaged. From 2018-2019 survey findings indicate that as a result of the training, the large majority of participants (73%) were able to define a culture of food safety; and 63% reported they were ready to implement a culture of food safety. On average, participants level of readiness was 7.8 on a 10-point scale, where 1= not ready and 10= fully ready. More than half (52%) however, reported that they still could use more training or resources to be fully ready. As part of our planned initiatives and programs, Future Harvest offered the PSA Grower Training, and intensive, food safety training, as part of its 2020 winter conference.Through webinars we were able to continue offering more education and resources to more farmers in our networks and we reached even more than we would have with on farm workshops. In 2020 so far we have had 50 registrants in (3) webinars put on by our food safety educators and program partners. They ranged from topics like post harvest handling to food safety in the time of COVID. According to survey findings, each webinar increased participants knowledge raised at least one point from "fair and good" to "good and very good". We had low numbers of survey respondents because we did not administer the survey during the webinars. However in future webinars we will build survey completion into the time allotted. We still need to complete 2 more webinar/ workshops under this objective and we anticipate 100-150 farmers to attend those future workshops by December 2020 for a total of 300 farmers reached. Objective #2: In 2018-2019 the project hosted 3 Level B Modules with 20 farmers and 15 agriculture service providers in attendance. The modules successfully prepared farmers and beginner farmers to comply with food safety laws and certifications. Survey findings (2018-2019) indicate that as a result of the training, the vast majority of participants (86%) understood the difference between GAP certification and FSMA regulations, FSMA produce safety rule and GAP certification programs; likewise, the large majority (71%) reported knowing the steps to certification. Percentages increased from 57% prior to the training. During 2019-2020 we have not yet completed the 3 Level B Food Safety Modules due to COVID but we are scheduled to conduct these online in the Fall of 2020. Each module will combine video content from farms and live trainers. We anticipate approximately 50-100 farmers to attend virtually based on attendance of past webinars. These modules will be recorded and added to our online toolkit. As of this report, consultant Lindsay Gilmour has provided one-on-one coaching for 14 farms through in-person, on-farm risk assessments, as well as remote training for 7 farmers who have developed food safety plans. Covid has has made it difficult to provide in person services this year including several risk assessments that were requested in the Spring and mock audits for some of the farmers with food safety plans. We hope these will be completed by the end of 2020 or early 2021. Objective #3: Additionally, from 2018-2019 the project successfully trained two (2) community based Food Safety Educators (FSEs) in land use risk assessment, agricultural water risk assessment, worker health and hygiene training, sanitation and post harvest handling. They helped to teach some of the on farm modules and webinars. Both trainees have attended the PSA Grower Training and one trainee has completed the PSA Train the Trainer course and is qualified to co-teach future PSA Grower Trainings. As a result of the training, in almost every case, knowledge increased from poor or fair to good, very good or excellent. That is, by the end of the 2019, 100% of the participants had a good to excellent understanding of the topics with one exception: the identification of practices that limit impact to environment, soil quality and wildlife habitats. However, each participant reported being comfortable with teaching all the topics. We brought on (2) more Food Safety Educator trainees in late 2019. They have undergone the PSA Grower Training and will attend and help to plan and teach the Level B modules in 2020. They are also working with the first year cohort to create food safety education materials for urban farms in Baltimore.

Publications

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

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is small and very small farms (as defined by FSMA) in the Chesapeake region, with a focus on beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. For this reporting period, our efforts have reached a total of 150 farmers, 70% of whom are considered socially disadvantaged. Efforts have included conference-based information sessions, webinars, farm workshops with experiential learning opportunities, and shared instruction with extension personnel. Events: FH CASA Conference Workshop ("Wash Station Design and FSMA: How to improve your space to save time, save your back, and lessen food safety risks") - 34 attendees (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) FH Winter Workshop (Food Safety 101) - 12 Farmers (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) FH Webinar (Demystifying Produce Food Safety) - 26 Farmers + 4 Ag Service Professionals (attendees ranged from beginner to advanced) FH BTFP 1 @ Calvert's Gift - 20 Farmers (all beginner farmers) FH BTFP 2 @ Crooked Fence - 14 Farmers (all beginner farmers) FH BTFP 3 @ Coops & Crops - 22 Farmers + 3 Ag Service Professionals (all beginner farmers) Module 1 (Land Use RA Abundant Grace Farm) - 10 Farmers + 5 Ag Service Professionals Module 2 (Production Water PEC Community Farm) - 5 Farmers + 6 Ag Service Professionals Module 3 (Worker Hygiene, Sanitation, Post Harvest Handling The Greener Garden) - Attendance 13 Farmers + 4 Ag Service Professionals Changes/Problems:Due to the nature of the farming season, and the inability to successfully organize a major workshop immediately after notice of the grant award in the fall of 2018, one of our deliverables will not be met until November 2019. Our Wholesale Readiness & Postharvest Handling event will be offered in two locations, providing full-day intensive training in food safety best practices as relate to postharvest handling. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As a result of this project, two (2) Food Safety Educators have been trained and are prepared to assist other regional producers with risk management for produce food safety. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our programs have been promoted through strategic partnerships with Cooperative Extension, Community Farms, and farm publications. With robust email and social media messaging, news of these opportunities has been distributed in targeted emails to more than 8,400 subscribers and to a social media audience of more than 6,700 followers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the extended grant period, we plan to replicate each of the opportunities which were part of the first reporting period, including training two (2) new Food Safety Educators. We anticipate that we will achieve similar or increased participation as word of the events and educational value gains additional traction. In addition, during the next reporting period, we will enhance and leverage this year's achievements: As part of our planned initiatives and programs, Future Harvest will offer the PSA Grower Training, and intensive, food safety training, as part of its winter conference. Following the August 23, 2019 launch of our Food Safety Toolkit, we will disseminate information to the full complement of the partnering organizations' mailing lists and via social media. Though difficult to quantify, we know that continued messaging about building a culture of food safety is impactful. Farmers engage with this programming with some level of uncertainty and reluctance; the more they are given opportunities to do so, the more likely they are to learn that these practices are for farms of all sizes and business models. During the next reporting period, evaluation activities will entail administration of the Follow-Up Survey, in addition to regularly scheduled training evaluations. The Follow-Up will collect more detailed information about changes in action and condition: specifically, the implementation of the culture of food safety (e.g., percentage implementing, how it is implemented and what constitutes it, etc.), as well as changes/increases in farmer competitiveness and market reach in relation to food safety laws and certifications. Additionally, the project may follow-up with the Food Safety Educators to collect information on the number of on-farm, culturally appropriate coaching, tools and solutions they provided to Chesapeake producers, and their success.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Food safety education at this level is invaluable. Programming associated with "Expanding Farmer Education to Create a Culture of Food Safety in the Chesapeake Region" reached more than 150 regional growers with nine (9) food safety educational opportunities, each designed to increase knowledge and competence towards creating a culture of food safety on-farm. These experiential events have been intentionally located across a wide geographic radius, to reach the broadest farming audience possible. Evaluation surveys confirm that we have achieved our goal of helping to create a culture of food safety in the Chesapeake region, with well over half of participants indicating improved levels of food safety understanding and audit readiness. Furthermore, we have created a curated Food Safety Toolkit with foundational information that will augment ongoing produce food safety education around the region. The provision of one-on-one coaching for farmers who wish to pursue GAP certification is a specialized and unique regional resource. To date, we have provided three (3) farm risk assessments, and one (1) farm has successfully achieved GAP audit readiness, following 14 hours of individualized coaching. The project was successful in advancing all three objectives and saw changes in knowledge. Quantitative and qualitative accomplishments are as follows: Objective #1: The project successfully prepared farmers and beginner farmers to build a culture offood safety through a series of progressive, multi-level training workshops, webinars and on-site instruction. Survey findings indicate that as a result of the training, the large majority of participants (73%) were able to define a culture of food safety; and 63% reported they were ready to implement a culture of food safety. On average, participants level of readiness was 7.8 on a 10-point scale, where 1= not ready and 10= fully ready. More than half (52%) however, reported that they still could use more training or resources to be fully ready. Objective #2: Likewise, the project successfully prepared farmers and beginner farmers to comply with food safety laws and certifications. Survey findings indicate that as a result of the training, the vast majority of participants (86%) understood the difference between GAP certification and FSMA regulations, FSMA produce safety rule and GAP certification programs; likewise, the large majority (71%) reported knowing the steps to certification. Percentages increased from 57% prior to the training. Results for enhanced competitiveness and market reach are premature and will be part of the follow-up evaluation. Objective #3: Additionally, the project successfully trained two (2) Food Safety Educators in land use risk assessment, agricultural water risk assessment, worker health and hygiene training, sanitation and post harvest handling. As a result of the training, in almost every case, knowledge increase from poor or fair to good, very good or excellent. That is, by the end of the training, 100% of the participants had a good to excellent understanding of the topics with one exception: the identificationof practices that limit impact to environment, soil quality and wildlife habitats. However, each participant reported being comfortable with teaching all the topics.

Publications