Source: OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
WESTERN REGIONAL CENTER TO ENHANCE FOOD SAFETY CONTINUATION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1017272
Grant No.
2018-70020-28879
Cumulative Award Amt.
$799,998.00
Proposal No.
2018-05220
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2018
Project End Date
May 31, 2022
Grant Year
2018
Program Code
[A4182]- Regional FSMA Center
Recipient Organization
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
CORVALLIS,OR 97331
Performing Department
AG Food Innovtn Ctr Exp Sta
Non Technical Summary
The purpose of the proposed Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WRCEFS)-Continuation project is to build upon our established and collaborative infrastructure to support FSMA-related food safety education, training, extension, outreach, and technical assistance. To accomplish this, the WRCEFS-Continuation project will include participation from Land Grant institutions and non-governmental organizations in 13 western states and two territories. The project objectives are to: 1) Support the development of and offer continuing educational to a cadre of PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers and FSPCA Lead Instructors within the Western U.S.; 2) Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the Western U.S.; 3) Establish protocols to review original and modified add-on materials, food safety training curricula, and best practice approaches to ensure consistency with FSMA guidelines; 4) Identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. for the existing technical assistance networks that target farmers, processors, and vendors; and 5) Evaluate the impact of WRCEFS-Continuation education, training and technical assistance programs through ongoing program assessment.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90350103020100%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The overall long-term goal for the WRCEFS-Continuation, to build upon the collaborative infrastructure established in the U.S. Western Region to support continued food safety education, training, extension, outreach, and technical assistance in compliance with FSMA, will be accomplished through the following specific objectives:Objective 1. Support the development of and offer continuing educational opportunities to a cadre of PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers and FSPCA Lead Instructors within the Western U.S.The Center will work to strengthen produce and preventive controls training in the region by working to expand the network of produce and food safety trainers in the Western U.S. that can deliver trainings to target audiences. Significant opportunities still lie within the land grant network, NGOs, CBOs, and local food hubs to identify, recruit and train agriculture and nutrition outreach professionals to aide in the delivery of FSMA-based trainings. It will be the focus of the WRCEFS to not only connect with these professionals, but support their development. To achieve this, the WRCEFS-Continuation will support the development of the continuing education courses by our members to increase foundational knowledge for the FSMA, Produce Safety, Preventive Controls for Human Food, and Foreign Supplier Verification Program rules, as well as support for trainers to attend continuing education courses.Objective 2. Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the Western U.S. We will develop a WRCEFS Annual Western Integrated Food Safety Conference, leveraging our relationships with state departments of agriculture, NGOs and CBOs, and funded Food Safety Outreach Projects (FSOP) in the Western U.S. The goal of this conference will be to foster collaboration, and discuss ongoing efforts and best practices in the delivery of FSMA-related training, education and technical assistance within the western U.S. It will also provide an opportunity for members of WRCEFS throughout the region to communicate successes, challenges, and propose solutions. In addition, WRCEFS-Continuation will provide support and assistance to the Lead Regional Coordination Center (LRCC) by aiding in the development of mechanisms for reporting program outcomes by FSOP Pilot and Community Outreach Projects across the western region.Objective 3. Establish protocols to review original and modified add-on materials, food safety training curricula, and best practice approaches to ensure consistency with FSMA guidelines.To support the ongoing efforts of FSOPs and other food safety initiatives, standardized rubrics will be created for the development and implementation of add-on materials, as well as alternative and modified training curricula. The rubric will be developed in collaboration with other Regional Centers and guidance from the LRCC to evaluate compliance with FSMA rules. As needed, ad hoc committees will be assembled to review curricula against standardized rubrics.Objective 4. Identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. for the existing technical assistance networks that target farmers, processors, and vendors. In addition to continued stakeholders trainings in the Western Region, we recognize the need to provide technical assistance for our target audiences based on identified stakeholder needs. The WRCEFS project team will leverage strong regional partnerships with NGOs/CBOs, state departments of agriculture, and the FDA PSN to identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. that can contribute to existing technical assistance networks.Objective 5. Evaluate the impact of WRCEFS-Continuation education, training and technical assistance programs through ongoing program assessment.A single national reporting system will be developed in collaboration with the LRCC and other Regional Centers. In addition, a common set of indicators will be established across the Regional Centers for the collection of qualitative and quantitative measures among all FSOP projects. All Western FSOP project descriptions and associated outputs will be posted on WRCEFS-Continuation website (https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/wrfsc), and linked and reported through the NECAFS Clearinghouse (https://go.uvm.edu/clearinghouse).
Project Methods
To achieve each objective, the following methods and activities will be employed:Objective 1:Organize and support the development of the supplemental continuing education workshops for PSA trainers/lead trainers and FSPCA PCHF lead instructors.Financial, administrative, and technical support for Trainers-of-Trainers (ToTs) to organize and instruct PSA Train-the-Trainer workshops across the Western U.S.Financial, administrative, and technical support for members to attend train-the-trainer workshops.Objective 2:Coordinate the WRCEFS Annual Western Integrated Food Safety Conference.Support attendance of WRCEFS members at the annual WRCEFS Integrated Food Safety Conference.Hold sub-regional meetings and bi-monthly calls using WebEx or Zoom platforms.Provide other mechanisms of access such as shared cloud storage (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive) to be used for active editing and sharing of educational materials among the collaborating institutions.Maintain the WRCEFS website that is accessible to the public, including:Communicate trainings and other eventsLink to PSA, FSPCA, other Regional Centers and LRCC information and materials.Distribute add-on training materials.Provide "technical assistance" link for email submissions of problems to a moderated listservDevelop a database from Objective 1 with key competencies of trainers for facilitating response to technical questions from stakeholders.Objective 3:Develop (with other Regional Centers and LRCC) standardized rubrics to evaluate existing Produce Safety and Preventive Controls for Human Food rules add-on materials.Through sub-region leads, recruit subject matter experts to participate in ad hoc committees to review add-on materials and alternate curricula, as required.Coordinate the review and approval of add-on materials as required.Objective 4:Work with LRCC and other Regional Centers to support technical assistance across existing TAN platforms.Identify regional subject matter experts (SMEs) across different key topic areas.Leverage relationships with state departments of agriculture to answer inspection/enforcement questions, and with FDA PSN to answer regulatory interpretation questions.Objective 5:Evaluate Objective 1 through the continued evaluation of trainings for growers and processors using standardized pre-/post-tests developed by the Southern Center.In collaboration with LRCC develop and implement standardized evaluation protocols for Objectives 2-4.Train each state/territory team within sub-regions on effective impact assessment measurement and reporting.Track the number of questions submitted to WRCEFS through the technical assistance portal.Interact regularly with other Regional Centers and LRCC in order to meet sponsor reporting requirements and share best practices.Plan annual WRCEFS progress meetings.Deliver annual formative evaluation report to USDA.Standardize communication strategy with FSOP projects to collect data on program outcomes, assessments and impacts.

Progress 09/01/18 to 05/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The WRCEFS-Continuation target audience included stakeholders from universities, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs). Representatives from all four sub-regions of WRCEFS participated in the three annual meetings, and the sub-target audience of food processors and produce growers within each region were invited to webinars and grower and processor trainings. In addition, two pilot add-on peer reviews were conducted in late 2020-early 2021 in collaboration with the Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety (NECAFS). Following the pilots, the peer review process for add-on content was opened for submissions in April 2021. Nine add-ons have been accepted through the peer review process as of May 31, 2022. A list of experts for reviews of add-on materials was first created in 2019 and updated annually to include experts from WRCEFS and other regions. Additionally, WRCEFS continued to collaborate with other regional centers, existing alliances (PSA, FSPCA), lead coordination center, FDA, USDA and state lead agencies; with representatives from these groups having attended the 2019-2022 WRCEFS annual meetings. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic canceled or delayed many workshops, professional development opportunities, and food safety projects in our region.Several advanced trainer opportunities were planned for the Western region but had to be canceled/ delayed due to COVID-19. An FSPCA Lead Instructor course was scheduled for September 29-October 1st, 2020, at the Food Innovation Center in Portland, OR. A PSA Train-the-Trainer course was scheduled for Washington in April 2020 and a second PSA Train-the-Trainer was being planned for Arizona. One OFRR TTT workshop was scheduled for March 19-21, 2020, in Phoenix, AZ. California had plans to offer agricultural water and BSAAO workshops in major growing regions between March to May 2020. Hosting an in-person pre-WRCEFS Annual Meeting advanced produce safety training was delayed until in-person annual meetings resume. With many Western states imposing shelter in place or modified in-person requirements, a significant time and effort had to be dedicated to transitioning as many activities online as possible. Two annual meetings were also held remotely (2020-2021). Personnel changes occurred throughout the grant, including: Co-PI Faith Critzer left Washington State University on August 1, 2021. Girish Ganjyal took over WSU subaward activities. Co-PI Paula Rivadeneira left the University of Arizona in 2020. Dave Stone (OSU) stepped down as co-Director in 2019 for WRCEFS but continuedto serve as a co-PI on the grant. Jovana Kovacevic assumed leadership as Director for the Western Regional Center. WRCEFS Coordinator, Stephanie Brown, was hired in September 2019. Co-PI Dr. Barbara Rasco left Washington State University in June 2019. Dr. Faith Critzer assumed leadership for this project within WSU and the Northwest sub-region. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Lead trainers and instructors from the Western region have organized 301 trainings, workshops, and webinars for regional stakeholders from September 2018 to May 2022. This project has led to the training and professional development of 1 PhD, 3 MS, and 3 high school students. The preharvest agricultural water treatment curriculum was developed and piloted by WSU and adapted for remote delivery by WSU and UofA WRCEFS members. This two-day course provided advanced educational opportunities, including interactive scenario-based activities, videos, and demonstration of an interactive test strip lab app. Two Train-the-Trainer courses were offered to Western region trainers in October 2020 and March 2021. This course will help Western regional trainers better assist their stakeholders with upcoming agricultural water requirements. Two Produce Safety Professional Development workshops were developed, piloted, and delivered to 39 WRCEFS trainers. This advanced course was for our produce safety trainers interested in gaining more experience in teaching the PSA curriculum to growers. Individuals were supported to attend PSA TTT course (n=5 people); FSPCA PCHF lead instructor training (n=4) and FSPCA PCHF training (n=1). Oneindividual was also supported to attend an Agricultural town hall meeting on agricultural water issues in Salinas, CA. In Washington, Tilth Alliance provided a PSA Grower Training, Farm Walk, and conference session in November 2019. These events provided professional development for growers to learn about on-farm food safety practices from farmer peers and subject matter experts in a variety of educational formats. Trainers at WSU conducted Food Microbiology 101 and environmental monitoring programs for produce packinghouses workshops along with six PSA GT courses during this term. Washington WRCEFS members also provided food safety training and support at the Washington Small Fruit Conference and Washington Tree Fruit Association annual meeting in December 2019. In year 1, the New Mexico team utilized the university Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center as a classroom to present OFRR and Farm Inspection techniques and water sampling instructional materials. Inspectors of other states were able to practice conducting farm manager interviews and mock inspections using their state inspectional tools. In Wyoming, while no FSMA specific training have been held, hands-on Food Safety/Culinary Trainings through ICN (funded through USDA CACFP grant and USDA Farm to School grant) took place. One GAP for School Gardens training was held. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Regular email updates and newsletters are provided to WRCEFS members and also people from outside the region that have signed up to receive updates through the WRCEFS website (202 subscribers as of May 31, 2022). This information along with resources and updates from the LRCC and RCs, WRCEFS partners, federal and state governments, trade associations, and alliances are also shared on our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Monthly calls with LRCC and other Regional Centers, monthly calls with WRCEFS members and quarterly calls with CAP grant holders and partners to provide updates on activities. Annual meeting reports were shared publicly along with meeting recordings via WRCEFS website. Resource Dissemination Examples from Sub-regions In year 1, different sub-regions and state communications also occur through emails and bi-annual newsletter (Hawaii, Wyoming) to audiences that include producers, schools, child care centers, and community members. In Arizona, results have been shared through in-person and remote communications with grower stakeholders. This includes follow-up with individuals post OFRR or grower trainings as well as though workshops and presentations. In coordination with the team at NMDA and Extension, the NMSU team had displays at conferences and workshops to promote and disseminate information to clientele. Hawaii shared all data with WRCEFS to compile with other sub-region data. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Hawaii has transitioned the majority of their communication to virtual and web-based means. Tilth Alliance has disseminated results of the Farm Walk Podcast to the National Farmers Union Foundation, the Local Food Safety Collaborative, and through the Tilth Alliance Farmer ENews. California uses online webinars and websites, including blog postings, (https://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/ and https://www.ccof.org/blog) to reach producers, educators, and community members. Washington provides results to communities of interest through in-person training events, virtual and in-person short talks, and on-site consultations. Idaho shares information with stakeholders through a produce safety newsletter. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1. Support the development of and offer continuing educational opportunities to a cadre of PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers and FSPCA Lead Instructors within the Western U.S. Two Produce Safety Professional Development workshops were delivered remotely in May and July 2020. This workshop was created by WRCEFS, the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) and New Mexico State University (NMSU). A total of 39 participants were trained. Two train-the-trainer preharvest agricultural water treatment courses, developed by Dr. Faith Critzer from WSU in collaboration with six institutions from Southern and Western regions,were held remotely via Zoom in October 13-14, 2020 and March 2-3, 2021 in the Western region. A total of 52 produce safety professionals were trained. During years 2-3, the WRCEFS team collaborated with the Food and Drug Administration, National Farmers Union, Produce Marketing Association, and United Fresh Produce Association to develop a cleaning and sanitation workshop for produce growers and packinghouses.This six-module workshop was piloted remotely from January 26to March 2, 2021, using Adobe Connect. During this pilot, 27 participants were trained. A second pilot was delivered over three weeks from January 11 to 27, 2022, with 25 people trained. Five individuals from California and Oregon were supported to attend the PSA TTT course. Two individuals from California and one individual from Oregon were also supported to attend the FSPCA PCHF lead instructor training. One individual was supported to attend the FSPCA PCHF course in Oregon, and to attendLead Instructor training in 2021. Objective 2. Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the Western U.S. Four annual meetings were held: The 6th WRCEFS Annual Meeting was held in Las Cruces, New Mexico on May 4-5, 2022, with 50 attendees. The 5th WRCEFS Annual Meeting was held virtually on May 4-6, 2021, with77 attendees and 33 speakers The 4th WRCEFS Annual Meeting was held virtually on May 12, 2020, with 92 attendees and 35 speakers. A report summarizing the outcomes of this meeting was available in September 2020 at: https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/wrcefs The 3rd WRCEFS Annual Meeting was held in Portland, OR on May 15-16, 2019, with 47 attendees. A report summarizing the outcomes of the meeting is available at:https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/system/files/wrcefs_2019_annual_meeting_minutes_public.pdf In year 1, an additional in-person update meeting was held at the IAFP Conference (Louisville, Kentucky), on July 21, 2019. Seventeen monthly calls have taken place (n= 6, 5, 6 for years 1, 2, and 3, respectively), including all WRCEFS PIs, sub-region leads, and NGO/CBOs. Western region CAP grant holders, FDA, USDA, Regional Centers, other partners (e.g., IFAI, NFU) and Alliances (FSPCA and PSA) have participated in six quarterly calls during this reporting period. Important events and updates were shared with WRCEFS members by monthly newsletters and emails throuh wrcefs@oregonstate.edu account.19 newsletters (n= 7 for year 2 and n= 12 for year 3) and 43 emails (n= 8, 17, and 18 for years 1, 2, and 3, respectively) were shared with the members (n= 125 as of August 2019; n= 167 as of August 2020; n= 198 as of September 2021). As of 2020, this information is also shared on our WRCEFS website and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, when applicable). Objective 3. Establish protocols to review original and modified add-on materials, food safety training curricula, and best practice approaches to ensure consistency with FSMA guidelines. Standardized rubrics were created for the peer review process for add-on materials being added to the Food Safety Resource (FSR) Clearinghouse, in collaboration with NECAFS. Two forms (v1) were created and piloted during the WRCEFS 3rd annual meeting in Portland: (i) Add-on review request form, and (ii) Review of add-on materials form. Six add-ons previously developed by WRCEFS (2017-2018) were used to pilot the forms with six groups at the annual meeting. Comments from the working groups were compiled and forms were updated to reflect suggestions for improvements. Three revised forms were shared with the RCs and LRCC in October 2019, including the (i) Peer review request form, (ii) Quality check form, and (iii) Peer review form. The NECAFS FSR Clearinghouse team met with WRCEFS for several months to integrate these forms into a peer review section within the Clearinghouse. The peer review process was piloted with one add-onin June 2020, followed by the second pilot in December 2020. Comments from the peer reviewers were compiled and the peer review process was updated to reflect suggestions for improvements.Acceptance of add-on materials for peer-review in the Clearinghouse began in April 2021. As of August 31, 2021, seven add-ons have been accepted through the peer review process and one add-on is currently under review. Objective 4. Identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. for the existing technical assistance networks that target farmers, processors, and vendors. In year 1, regional subject matter experts (SMEs) spanning 15 different topic areas pertaining to produce safety and preventive controls and nine commodities were identified, with new members and expertise added in 2019 (n=40). Subject matter experts in Washington also attended and presented at the Tilth Conference Farm Walk and PSA Grower Training. During these events, they met with growers to learn more about their needs and explained what services they offer. The SME list was expanded in 2020 following a SME solicitation through a Qualtrics survey. As of May 24, 2021, 121 experts have completed the survey and have been added to Peer-Review SME database. Objective 5. Evaluate the impact of WRCEFS-Continuation education, training and technical assistance programs through ongoing program assessment. A guidance document called "Food Safety Trainings in the Western Region Evaluation Tools and Expectations" was developed and shared with WRCEFS members, including all funded FSOP projects, as well as LRCC and other Regional Centers. Pre/post-tests data are currently being analysed for publication. Based on the data from regionaltrainings with submitted pre/post-tests (both in-person and remote), increases in knowledge after the training were observed for both PSA (n=36 trainings; pre-test average 16.20/25; post-test average 20.79/25 points) and FSPCA trainings (n= 3 trainings; pre-test average 6.5/15; post-test average 7.3/15 points). We received information about 301 workshops and training events:184 were PSA grower courses, 2 PSA TTT, 28 FSPCA PCHF, 21 basic food safety workshops, 7 environmental monitoring workshops, 6 supplemental FSMA workshops, 3 Bridging the GAPs: Preharvest Ag Water Treatment TTT courses, 2 Produce Safety Professional Development workshops, 1 Water Treatment Bootcamp for beginners workshop, 1 ag water testing workshop, 1 GAP for school gardens workshop, 1 Recall Essentials pilot workshop, 1 Produce Safety Rule Cleaning and Sanitizing Regional Pilot Workshop, 1 Food Safety Quick course, 1 Food Microbiology 101 course, 1 BSAAO and Soil Health training, 1 preharvest ag water course, 28 webinars, 5 farm walks sessions, and 1 seminar series on GAPs.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Alvarado, S., R. Bland, S. R. B. Brown, J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. 2022. Produce Safety Alliance Grower Trainings: Activities to Increase Participant Engagement. Food Protection Trends. 42(2): 124-138. https://doi.org/10.4315/FPT-21-019.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kovacevic, J. 2022. Development of add-on materials to supplement Food Safety Modernization Act trainings in the Western U.S. Journal of Extension. 60(1): Article 10. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.60.01.11
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ramos, T., H. Leavau, H. Kim, M. Marco, and E. DiCaprio. 2021. Leveraging the COVID-19 fermentation trend to enhance nutrition and food safety Extension efforts. Submitted 2021. Journal of Extension.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Tavares K., J. Silva, and S. Wages. 2021. Produce Safety and On-Farm Flooding. Available at: https://gms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gs/handler/getmedia.ashx?moid=67965&dt=3&g=12
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and J. Waite-Cusic. 2021. Add-on Exercise for Produce Safety Alliance grower training module 4 v1.2 - Wildlife and Domesticated Animals and Land Use. Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. FSR 819. Available at: https://foodsafetyclearinghouse.org/resources/produce-safety-alliance--add-exercise-module-4--wildlife-and-domesticated-animals-and
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic. 2021. Add-on Exercise for Produce Safety Alliance grower training module 1 v 1.2- Introduction to Produce Safety and Exemptions and Exclusions. Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. FSR 820. Available at: https://foodsafetyclearinghouse.org/resources/add-exercise-module-1-v12-introduction-produce-safety-exemptions-and-exclusions
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dery, J.L., D. Gerrity, and C. M. Rock. 2020. Minimizing Risks: Use of Surface Water in pre-Harvest Agricultural Irrigation, Part II: Sodium and Calcium Hypochlorite (Chlorine) Treatment Methods. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dery, J.L., J. Sughroue, and C. M. Rock. 2020. Minimizing Risks: Use of Surface Water in pre-Harvest Agricultural Irrigation, Part III: Peroxyacetic Acid (PAA) Treatment Methods. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Critzer, F. 2020. Produce Safety Rule Exemptions and Exclusions for Washington Produce Growers. Washington State University Extension Publication FS340E. Washington State University.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., S. Alvarado, J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. A Year in Review: Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety engagement with a regional and global community through web-based platforms. 2021 International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting, Hybrid In-Person and Remote Meeting, 18-21 July 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Alvarado, S., S. R. B. Brown, and J. Kovacevic. WRCEFS Evaluation Update 2015-2021. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 5th Annual Meeting. 4 May 2021 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Alvarado, S., S. R. B. Brown, J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Analysis of FSMA produce safety and preventive controls for human food trainings in the Western region of the United States. 2021 International Association for Food Protection Annual meeting, Hybrid In-Person and Remote Meeting, 18-21 July 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rock, C.M. Panelist for the Collaboration in the Desert-A Research Model for Advancing Fresh Produce Safety roundtable session. Roundtable held during the International Association for Food Protection Meeting, 20 July 2021 (oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Critzer, F., and C. M. Rock. Panelist for the Agricultural Water Quality Management in a Changing Regulatory Landscape roundtable session. Roundtable held during the International Association for Food Protection Meeting, 19 July 2021 (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., C. Callahan, J. Kovacevic, P. Land, and E. Newbold. The Peer Review Process for Add-on Content. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 5th Annual Meeting. 6 May 2021 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rock, C. M., Lessons Learned from Field-Based Research Following the 2018 Outbreak. Hartnell College Western Food Safety Summit, 6 May 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rock, C. M., Ag Water Treatment Implementation Strategies for Growers. Hartnell College Western Food Safety Summit, 5 May 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., Newbold, E., Callahan, C., and J. Kovacevic. The Peer Review Process for Add-on Content. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Conference and Meeting, 17 February 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., and J. Kovacevic. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety: Updates and Activities. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Conference and Meeting, 17 February 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., Panelist for the A look forward (how do the other regional centers focus their activities) panel discussion. Panel held during the North Central Region FSMA Virtual Annual Conference, 11 February 2021 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. R. B. Brown. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety Updates and Activities. North Central Region FSMA Virtual Annual Conference, 11 February 2021 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety Updates and Activities. Southern Center Annual Meeting, 21 January 2021 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Case study on the effective use of web-based platforms to distribute food safety information during two crisis events in 2020. Oregon State University Extension Annual Conference, December 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Rock, C.M., Surface Water Treatment for Agriculture- Connecting the Dots Between Policy, Science, and Practice. ARC Training Centre for Food Safety in the Fresh Produce Industry, 24 November 2020 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bland, R., J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Enhancement of PSA Grower Training Curriculum through Activities that Increase Participant Engagement. International Association for Food Protection Virtual Annual Meeting, 27 October 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, E .Newbold, and C. Callahan. How Oregon and the Western Region are Using the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. International Association for Food Protection Virtual Annual Meeting, 27 October 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: S. Brown, J. Kovacevic, C. Callahan, P. Land, and E. Newbold. Peer Review process for add-on materials. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 4th Annual Meeting. May 12, 2020 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, S. Davis, S. Runkel, S. Reitz, L. Santamaria, S. Pearlstein. Preparing Oregon Produce Farms for Produce Safety Rule. International Association for Food Protection Virtual Annual Meeting, 27 October 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Western Regional Center Updates. Food Safety Outreach Program National Project Directors Meeting. August 18-19, 2020 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Welcome, Introductions, and Meeting Objectives. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 4th Annual Meeting. May 12, 2020 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Food Safety in the Time of COVID-19 Special Session Introduction. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 4th Annual Meeting. May 12, 2020 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. Brown. Western Regional Center (WRCEFS): 2019-2020 Update. North Central Region (NCR) Annual Meeting. April 2, 2020 (remote, oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. Brown. Western Regional Center (WRCEFS): 2019-2020 Update. Northeast Center (NECAFS) Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA, February 11-12, 2020 (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. Brown. Western Regional Center (WRCEFS): 2019-2020 Update. Southern Center Annual Meeting. Savannah, GA. January 9, 2020 (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Qin, L.*, S. Brown, J. Kovacevic. Assessing knowledge gain in Oregon produce growers following Produce Safety Alliance trainings. 2020 ASE Symposium. August 14, 2020 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Using Zoom polls for PSA pre- and post-tests. PSA Educator Call. May 18, 2020. Webinar (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Waite-Cusic, J., E. Newbold, C. Callahan, J. Kovacevic. How Oregon and the Western Region are using the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. OSU Extension Annual Conference, Corvallis, OR, December 2-5, 2019 (poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, D. Stone, R. McGorrin, C. DeWitt, T. Dean, E. DiCaprio, A. Pires, B. Rasco, P. Rivadeneira, C. Rock, J. Uyeda. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety. 2019 Annual Meeting, National Consortium for Produce Safety, NASDA. Orlando, FL, March 6-8, 2019 (poster, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Western Regional Center Continuation: Overview. Southern Center Region Food Safety Outreach Project Meeting. Savannah, GA, January 10, 2019 (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J., D. Stone. Meeting objectives and introduction to WRCEFS 2.0. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 3rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 15-16, 2019 (oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Williams, J., K. Schneider, J. Kovacevic. Lead Regional Center, WRCEFS and FSOPs: Working Together. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 3rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 15-16, 2019 (oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J. WRCEFS and FSOPs  Next steps. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 3rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 15-16, 2019 (oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kovacevic, J., D. Stone, C. DeWitt, R. McGorrin, T. Dean, E. DiCaprio, A. Pires, B. Rasco, P. Rivadeneira, C. Rock. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WRCEFS): Summary 2015-2018 and Continuation 2018-2021. FSOP Transition Meeting, Washington, DC. November 28, 2018 (oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WRCEFS). SRIPS Conference, Atlanta, GA, November 11, 2018 (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stone, D., J. Kovacevic. Opportunities to integrate biological and chemical hazard prevention in a disruptive food landscape. European Food Safety Authority Conference, Parma, Italy, September 18-21, 2018 (poster).


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

Outputs
Target Audience: The WRCEFS-Continuation target audience included stakeholders from universities, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs). Representatives from all four sub-regions of WRCEFS participated in the 2021 annual meeting, and the sub-target audience of food processors and produce growers within each region were invited to webinars and grower and processor trainings. In addition, six experts from WRC/NECAFS were recruited fortwo pilot add-on peer reviewsin late 2020-early 2021. In 2021, a list of experts for reviews of add-on materials has beenupdated to include experts from WRCEFS and other regions. Additionally, WRCEFS continues to collaborate with other regional centers, existing alliances (PSA, FSPCA), lead coordination center, FDA, USDA and state lead agencies; with representatives from these groups having attended the 2021 WRCEFS annual meeting. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic delayed many workshops and professional development opportunities in our region. This includes a cancelation of a FSPCA PCHF Lead Instructor training, originally planned for Portland, OR in September 2020. With many Western states still imposing shelter in place or modified in-person requirements, a significant time and effort has been dedicated to transitioning as many activities online as possible. WRCEFS co-PI Faith Critzer left Washington State University on August 1, 2021. Girish Ganjyal took over WSU subaward activities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Lead trainers and instructors from the Western region have organized 105 trainings, workshops, and webinars for regional stakeholders from September 2020 to August 2021. This project has led to the training and professional development of 1 PhD and 1 MS student. The preharvest agricultural water treatment curriculum was developed and piloted by WSU and adapted for remote delivery by WSU and UofA WRCEFS members. This two-day course provided advanced educational opportunities, including interactive scenario-based activities, videos, and demonstration of an interactive test strip lab app. Two Train-the-Trainer courses were offered to Western region trainers in October 2020 and March 2021. This course will help Western regional trainers better assist their stakeholders with upcoming agricultural water requirements. Two individuals were supported by WRCEFS to take the PSA Train-the-Trainer course from Oregon. WRCEFS supported three individuals to attend the FSPCA PCHF Lead Instructor course from California (n=2) and Oregon (n=1). One individual was supported to attend the FSPCA PCHF course in Oregon. This individual is planning to attend the FSPCA PCHF Lead Instructor training in late 2021-early 2022. Several advanced trainer opportunities were planned for the Western region but had to be canceled/delayed due to COVID-19. A FSPCA Lead Instructor course was scheduled for September 29-October 1st 2020 at the Food Innovation Center in Portland, OR. Hosting an in-person pre-WRCEFS Annual Meeting advanced produce safety training will be delayed until in-person annual meetings resume. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Regular email updates are provided to WRCEFS members and also people from outside the region that have signed up to receive updates through the WRCEFS website (198 subscribers as of September 2021). This information along with resources and updates from the LRCC and RCs, WRCEFS partners, federal and state governments, trade associations, and alliances are also shared on our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Annual meeting report is shared publicly along with meeting recordings via WRCEFS website. Resource Dissemination Examples from Sub-regions In Arizona, results have been shared through in-person and remote communications with grower stakeholders. This includes follow-up with individuals post OFRR or grower trainings as well as though workshops and presentations. In coordination with the team at NMDA and Extension, the NMSU team have displays at conferences and workshops to promote and disseminate information to clientele. Hawaii shares all data with WRCEFS to compile with other sub-region data. Tilth Alliance has disseminated results of the Farm Walk Podcast to the National Farmers Union Foundation, the Local Food Safety Collaborative, and through the Tilth Alliance Farmer ENews. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Facilitate a pre-meeting workshop focused on advanced skills building prior to the 6th WRCEFS Annual Meeting.? Objective 2: Organize 6th annual meeting in 2022 in New Mexico. Continue with monthly communications via Zoom, and email updates on FSMA and WRCEFS-activities with broad member base, acquired through website sign-up. Objective 5: Collate and analyze evaluation data from trainings that were delayed due to Covid-19.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1. Support the development of and offer continuing educational opportunities to a cadre of PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers and FSPCA Lead Instructors within the Western U.S. Two train-the-trainerpreharvest agricultural water treatment courses were held remotely via Zoom in October 13-14, 2020 and March 2-3, 2021. The course was run by co-PI Faith Critzer and WRCEFS members, including WRCEFS and Southern Centertrainers. A total of 52 produce safety professionals were trained. The WRCEFS team collaborated with the Food and Drug Administration, National Farmers Union, Produce Marketing Association, and United Fresh Produce Association to develop a cleaning and sanitation workshop for produce growers and packinghouses. A cleaning and sanitation workshop survey was created, and results were used to develop the course content. The survey received 300 clicks and 162 responses. This six-module workshop was piloted remotely from January 26thto March 2nd, 2021, using Adobe Connect. During this pilot, 27 participants were trained. A second pilot is planned in ealry 2022. During this reporting period, WRCEFS supported two individuals from Oregon to attend the remote PSA Train-the-Trainer course. Two individuals from California and one individual from Oregon were also supported to attend the FSMA FSPCA PCHF lead instructor training. Planning for the in-person advanced PSA training workshop was postponed due to Covid-19. Objective 2. Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the Western U.S. The 5th WRCEFS Annual Meeting was held virtually on May 4-6, 2021. In total, 77 attendees were present during this three-day online meeting. Thirty-three speakers representing WRCEFS sub-regions, state departments of agriculture, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, funded Food Safety Outreach Projects (FSOPs), FDA, USDA, Regional Centers, Collaboratives, and Alliances provided updates on their current work. An update on evaluations (including trainings and other resources) and overview of the peer-review process for add-on content were presented by members of the WRCEFS core team. Two special sessions on working with underrepresented stakeholders and the outcomes of a quantitative microbial risk assessment approach for protecting essential food workers from COVID-19 were also shared. A report summarizing the outcomes of this meeting is available at: https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/wrcefs. Six monthly calls have taken place, including all WRCEFS PIs, sub-region leads, and NGO/CBOs. Western region CAP grant holders, FDA, USDA, Regional Centers, other partners (e.g., IFAI, NFU) and Alliances (FSPCA and PSA) have participated in three quarterly calls during this reporting period. Important events and updates for our stakeholders were shared with WRCEFS members by monthly newsletters and emails. Emails are managed through our WRCEFS email account (wrcefs@oregonstate.edu). During this reporting period, 12 newsletters and 18 emails were shared with our WRCEFS members (n= 198 as of September 2021). This information is also shared on our WRCEFS website and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, when applicable). Objective 3. Establish protocols to review original and modified add-on materials, food safety training curricula, and best practice approaches to ensure consistency with FSMA guidelines. In the previous reporting cycle, the WRCEFS team collaborated with the NECAFS team to integrate a peer review request form, quality check capabilities for editors, and peer review form into the Food Safety Resource (FSR) Clearinghouse, and conducted a pilot review. A second pilot of the review process was conducted in December 2020 using an add-on created by an NCR member which focused on wildlife damage. This add-on was accepted as the first peer reviewed resource in the FSR Clearinghouse. Comments from the peer reviewers and submitter were compiled and the peer review process was updated a final time to reflect suggestions for improvements. Acceptance of add-on materials for peer-review in the FSR Clearinghouse began in April 2021. Reviewers were solicited for the process by using a subject matter expert survey (see objective 4). As of August 31, 2021, seven add-ons have been accepted through the peer review process and one add-on is currently under review. Objective 4. Identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. for the existing technical assistance networks that target farmers, processors, and vendors. The list of subject matter experts in the Western Region was expanded to include new experts/expertise in our region and capture data on experts from other regions. A Qualtrics survey was designed to identify these experts in different topic areas relevant to produce safety (19 topics), preventive controls (15 topics), specific commodity groups (9 groups), and other food safety and adult education expertise (8 topics) as relevant. This was the mechanism used to collect reviewers for the peer-review process for add-on content. As of May 24, 2021, 121 experts have completed the survey and have been added to Peer-Review SME database. Objective 5. Evaluate the impact of WRCEFS-Continuation education, training and technical assistance programs through ongoing program assessment. In the current reporting period, we received information about 105 workshops and training events. This included trainings in: Alaska (UofAlaska, Fairbanks), Arizona (UofA, AZDA), California (COS, UC Davis), Colorado (CSU), Hawaii (UofH), Idaho (ISDA, UofI), New Mexico (NMSA and NMSU), Nevada (NDA and UofN, Reno), Oregon (ODA and OSU), Utah (USU), and Washington (WSDA, WSU). Of these, 75 were PSA grower courses, 9 were FSPCA PCHF, 3 Bridging the GAPs: Preharvest Ag Water Treatment Train-the-Trainer courses, 1 Water Treatment Bootcamp for beginners workshop, 1 Recall Essentials pilot workshop, 1 Produce Safety Rule Cleaning and Sanitizing Regional Pilot Workshop, 1 Food Safety Quick course, 1 BSAAO and Soil Health training, 13 webinars. In addition, WRCEFS members provided expertise and reported on outputs 18 times at 9 conferences. Based on the data from WRCEFS trainings with submitted pre/post-tests (both in-person and remote), increases in knowledge after the training were observed for both PSA (n=36 trainings; pre-test average 16.20/25; post-test average 20.79/25 points) and FSPCA trainings (n= 3 trainings; pre-test average 6.5/15; post-test average 7.3/15 points). In collaboration with PSA, we are currently analyzing Western region PSA grower and train-the-trainer data for a publication.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., S. Alvarado, J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. A Year in Review: Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety engagement with a regional and global community through web-based platforms. 2021 International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting, Hybrid In-Person and Remote Meeting, 18-21 July 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Alvarado, S., S. R. B. Brown, J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Analysis of FSMA produce safety and preventive controls for human food trainings in the Western region of the United States. 2021 International Association for Food Protection Annual meeting, Hybrid In-Person and Remote Meeting, 18-21 July 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rock, C.M. Panelist for the Collaboration in the Desert-A Research Model for Advancing Fresh Produce Safety roundtable session. Roundtable held during the International Association for Food Protection Meeting, 20 July 2021 (oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Critzer, F., and C. M. Rock. Panelist for the Agricultural Water Quality Management in a Changing Regulatory Landscape roundtable session. Roundtable held during the International Association for Food Protection Meeting, 19 July 2021 (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., C. Callahan, J. Kovacevic, P. Land, and E. Newbold. The Peer Review Process for Add-on Content. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 5th Annual Meeting. 6 May 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rock, C. M., Lessons Learned from Field-Based Research Following the 2018 Outbreak. Hartnell College Western Food Safety Summit, 6 May 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rock, C. M., Ag Water Treatment Implementation Strategies for Growers. Hartnell College Western Food Safety Summit, 5 May 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Alvarado, S., S. R. B. Brown, and J. Kovacevic. WRCEFS Evaluation Update 2015-2021. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 5th Annual Meeting. 4 May 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., Newbold, E., Callahan, C., and J. Kovacevic. The Peer Review Process for Add-on Content. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Conference and Meeting, 17 February 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., and J. Kovacevic. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety: Updates and Activities. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Conference and Meeting, 17 February 2021 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., Panelist for the A look forward (how do the other regional centers focus their activities) panel discussion. Panel held during the North Central Region FSMA Virtual Annual Conference, 11 February 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. R. B. Brown. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety Updates and Activities. North Central Region FSMA Virtual Annual Conference, 11 February 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety Updates and Activities. Southern Center Annual Meeting, 21 January 2021 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Brown, S. R. B., J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Case study on the effective use of web-based platforms to distribute food safety information during two crisis events in 2020. Oregon State University Extension Annual Conference, December 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Rock, C.M., Surface Water Treatment for Agriculture- Connecting the Dots Between Policy, Science, and Practice. ARC Training Centre for Food Safety in the Fresh Produce Industry, 24 November 2020 (remote, oral).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bland, R., J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Enhancement of PSA Grower Training Curriculum through Activities that Increase Participant Engagement. International Association for Food Protection Virtual Annual Meeting, 27 October 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, E .Newbold, and C. Callahan. How Oregon and the Western Region are Using the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. International Association for Food Protection Virtual Annual Meeting, 27 October 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, S. Davis, S. Runkel, S. Reitz, L. Santamaria, S. Pearlstein. Preparing Oregon Produce Farms for Produce Safety Rule. International Association for Food Protection Virtual Annual Meeting, 27 October 2020 (remote, poster).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2021 Citation: Alvarado, S., R. Bland, S. R. B. Brown, J. Waite-Cusic, and J. Kovacevic. Produce Safety Alliance Grower Trainings: Activities to Increase Participant Engagement. Food Protection Trends. In print.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ramos, T., H. Leavau, H. Kim, M. Marco, and E. DiCaprio. Leveraging the COVID-19 fermentation trend to enhance nutrition and food safety Extension efforts. Submitted to Journal of Extension.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J. 2021. Development of add-on materials to supplement Food Safety Modernization Act trainings in the Western U.S. Journal of Extension. (In print).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Tavares K., J. Silva, and S. Wages. 2021. Produce Safety and On-Farm Flooding. Available at: https://gms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gs/handler/getmedia.ashx?moid=67965&dt=3&g=12
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic. 2021. Add-on exercise for Produce Safety Alliance grower training module 4 v1.2  Wildlife and domesticated animals and land use. Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. FSR 819. https://foodsafetyclearinghouse.org/resources/produce-safety-alliance--add-exercise- module-4--wildlife-and-domesticated-animals-and
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic. 2021. Add-on exercise for Produce Safety Alliance grower training module 1 v1.2 Introduction to produce safety. Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse FSR 820. https://foodsafetyclearinghouse.org/resources/add-exercise- module-1-v12%E2%80%93-introduction-produce-safety-exemptions-and-exclusions


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

Outputs
Target Audience:The WRCEFS-Continuation target audience included stakeholders from university, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs). Representatives from all four sub-regions of WRCEFS participated in 2020 annual meeting, and sub-target audience of food processors and produce growers within each region was invited to webinars and grower and processor trainings. In addition, three experts from WRC/NECAFS regions have been recruited for a pilot add-on review in 2020 in collaboration with NECAFS. A list of experts for reviews of add-on materials has been created in 2019 and is continuously updated. Additionally, WRCEFS continues to collaborate with other regional centers, existing alliances (PSA, FSPCA), lead center, FDA, USDA and State lead agencies; with representatives from these groups having attended the 2020 WRCEFS annual meeting. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic canceled or delayed many workshops, professional development opportunities, and other food safety projects in our area. With many states imposing a shelter in place requirement, much time has been dedicated to transitioning as many activities online as possible and adapting current and planned projects to meet these new challenges. Dave Stone (OSU) stepped down as co-Director for WRCEFS but continues to serve as a co-PI on the grant. Jovana Kovacevic is now the Director for the Western Regional Center. WRCEFS co-PI Paula Rivadeneira left the University of Arizona. New WRCEFS Coordinator, Stephanie Brown, was hired in September 2019. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Lead trainers and instructors from the Western region have organized and delivered 95 trainings, workshops, and webinars for regional stakeholders from September 2019 to August 2020. This project has led to the training and professional development 1 MS and 1 high school student. Two Produce Safety Professional Development workshops were developed, piloted, and delivered to 39 WRCEFS trainers. This advanced course was for our produce safety trainers interested in gaining more experience in teaching the PSA curriculum to growers. The preharvest agricultural water treatment curriculum was developed and piloted by WSU. This one-day course will provide advanced educational opportunities, including hands-on activities, videos, and an interactive test strip lab app,for regional trainers within this subject matter. By offering a train-the-trainer course on this topic in October 2020, Western regional trainers will be better able to assist their stakeholders with upcoming ag water requirements. Four individuals from California were supported by WRCEFS to take the PSA lead trainer evaluation and three individuals were sponsored to attend the PSA Train-the-trainer course from California (n=2) and Oregon (n=1). WRCEFS also supported one individual to attend an Agricultural town hall meeting on agricultural water issues in Salinas, CA. In Washington, Tilth Alliance provided a PSA Grower Training, Farm Walk, and conference session in November 2019. These events provided professional development for growers to learn about on-farm food safety practices from farmer peers and subject matter experts in a variety of educational formats. Trainers at WSU conducted Food Microbiology 101 and environmental monitoring programs for produce packinghouses workshops along with six PSA GT courses during this term. Washington WRCEFS members also provided food safety training and support at the Washington Small Fruit Conference and Washington Tree Fruit Association annual meeting in December 2019. Several advanced trainer opportunities were planned for the Western region but had to be canceled/delayed due to COVID-19. A PSA Train-the-Trainer course was scheduled for Washington in April 2020 and a second PSA Train-the-Trainer was being planned for Arizona. A FSPCA lead trainer course was scheduled for September 29-October 1 at the Food Innovation Center in Portland, Oregon. One OFRR TTT workshop was scheduled for March 19-21, 2020 in Phoenix, AZ.California hadplans to offer agricultural water and BSAAO workshops in major growing regions between March to May 2020. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Regular email updates and newsletters are distributed to WRCEFS members and also people from outside the region that have signed up to receive updates through the WRCEFS website (167 subscribers as of August 2020). This information along with resources and updates from the LRCC and RCs, WRCEFS partners, federal and state governments, and alliances are also shared on our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Annual meeting report is currently being developed and will be shared publicly via WRCEFS website in September 2020. Monthly calls with LRCC and other Regional Centers, monthly calls with WRCEFS members, and quarterly calls with CAP grant holders to provide updates on activities. In different sub-regions and states, communication occurs to stakeholders through other channels. Some examples include: California uses online webinars and websites, including blog postings, (https://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/andhttps://www.ccof.org/blog)to reach producers, educators, and community members. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Hawaii has transitioned the majority of their communication to virtual and web-based means. Washington provides results to communities of interest through in-person training events, virtual and in-person short talks, and on-site consultations. Idaho shares information with stakeholders through a produce safety newsletter. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Facilitate at least 2 advanced trainings in the Western Region, including the Preharvest Agricultural Water Treatment Train-the-Trainer (TTT) workshop on October 13-14, 2020 and the PSA Advanced Training Workshop. Develop curriculum and plan for at least 1 offering of the Cleaning and Sanitation Workshop. This workshop will be delivered in a virtualformat and will be scheduled for early 2021. PSA TTTs are planned in Arizona and Washington. Farm walks typically conducted by Tilth Alliance will be transitioned over to podcast episodes that highlight the operation of a host farmer and center on production and farm business management topics. Food safety best practices will be emphasized, especially in the context of COVID-19. Three farm walk episodes are planned that focus on topics including produce packing and processing infrastructure, how to access PPE, farmworker training, record keeping, field planning, and COVID-19 specific production practices. Objective 2: Organize 5thannual meeting in 2021 in Washington. Continue with monthly communications via Zoom, and email updates on FSMA and WRCEFS-activities with broad member base, acquired through website sign-up. Objective 3: Complete second pilot of peer-review process with add-ons that have been submitted to the FSR Clearinghouse. WRCEFS will continue to collaborate with NECAFS on this effort. Final changes will be made to the peer-review system in the FSR Clearinghouse and the system is anticipated to begin accepting add-on content for review by the end of 2020. Objective 4: Annually update SME list for the Western Region, and share the lists with LRCC and Regional Centers. Continue to highlight WRCEFS members and their expertisethrough "Faces of WRCEFS" section on WRCEFS website. Objective 5: Continue to collect evaluation data from WRCEFS sub-regions and Western Region FSOPs.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The overall long-term goal for the WRCEFS-Continuation, is to build upon the collaborative infrastructure established in the U.S. Western Region to support continued food safety education, training, extension, outreach, and technical assistance in compliance with FSMA. Objective 1.Support the development of and offer continuing educational opportunities to a cadre of PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers and FSPCA Lead Instructors within the Western U.S. Two Produce Safety Professional Development workshops were delivered to Western region trainers in May and July 2020. This workshop was created by WRCEFS, the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) and New Mexico State University (NMSU). A total of 39 participants were trained during these 2 workshops. Dr. Faith Critzer from Washington State University (WSU) in collaboration with six institutions from Southern and Western regionshas developed a preharvest agricultural water treatment course. This advanced training was delivered as a regular workshop and as a train-the-trainer format in January 2020 in the Southern region. This training is scheduled to beoffered remotely via Zoom in October 2020 to WRCEFS members in a train-the-trainer format. The train-the-trainer workshop will allow for the course content to be taught to other regional stakeholders that our trainers serve. Registration for the October workshop has been limited to 30 participants. Due to the high demand for this workshop, a second train-the-trainer workshop is tentatively planned for early 2021. The WRCEFS is working with LRCC and the Southern Center to bring the Advanced PSA Training workshop to our region. This course was piloted in December 2019 and January 2020 in the Southern region (Lake Alfred, FL). At least one workshop is planned in the Western region, tentatively early to mid-2021, pending travel and other conditions related to COVID-19 pandemic. WRCEFS team is collaborating with the Food and Drug Administration, National Farmers Union, Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh Produce Association to develop a cleaning and sanitation workshop for produce growers and packinghouses. Results from thecleaning and sanitation workshop surveywill be used to develop the course content. This training will be piloted remotely in late 2020 toearly 2021, via an online platform. In California, new contract was created with CDFA to hire new produce safety trainers. WRCEFS was able to support 4 lead trainer applications (California) and 3 people to take the train-the-trainer course (California and Oregon). WRCEFS co-PI (Critzer)contributed to the postharvest module of the Advanced PSA Training,piloted piloted during this performance period in Florida. Objective 2.Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the Western U.S. The 4thWRCEFS Annual Meeting was held virtually on May 12, 2020. In total, 92 attendees were present during this one-day online meeting. Thirty-five speakers representing WRCEFS sub-regions, state departments of agriculture, non-government organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), funded Food Safety Outreach Projects (FSOPs), FDA, USDA, Regional Centers, Collaboratives, and Alliances provided updates on their current work. Updates to the peer-review process for add-on content werepresented by members of WRCEFS and NECAFS core team. Impacts of COVID-19 were also discussed in a special "Food Safety in the Time of COVID-19 Outbreak" session. A report summarizing the outcomes of this meeting will be available in September 2020 at:https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/wrcefs. Five monthly calls have taken place, includingallWRCEFS PIs, sub-region leads, and NGO/CBOs. CAP grant holders in the Western States have also been invited to participat in quarterly meetings, with three meetings held in this performance period. Important events and updates for our stakeholders are now shared with WRCEFS members by monthly newsletters and emails. Emails are managed through our newly created WRCEFS email account (wrcefs@oregonstate.edu). During this reporting period, 7 newsletters and 17 emails were shared with our WRCEFS members (n=167 as of August 2020).This information is also shared on our WRCEFS website and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter when applicable). Objective 3.Establish protocols to review original and modified add-on materials, food safety training curricula, and best practice approaches to ensure consistency with FSMA guidelines. Three revised forms were shared with the RCs and LRCC in October 2019, including the (i) Peer review request form, (ii) Quality check form, and (iii) Peer review form. Comments from these groups were incorporated into these forms and were presented to the NECAFS team along with diagrams depicting the overview of the peer-review process. The NECAFS FSR Clearinghouse team met with WRCEFS for several months to integrate these forms into a peer review section within the Clearinghouse. The peer review process was piloted with one add-on about drain selection in packinghouses developed by NECAFS in June 2020. Three reviewers from WRCEFS and NECAFS were solicited to review the add-on content and the peer-review process, including Arizona and Washington. Comments from the peer reviewers were compiled and the peer review process is being updated to reflect suggestions for improvements. A second pilot with the same resource and an additional new resource will be conducted in September 2020. Acceptance of add-on materials for peer-review in the FSR Clearinghouse is planned to be fully integrated into the Clearinghouse andoperational bythe end of2020. Objective 4.Identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. for the existing technical assistance networks that target farmers, processors, and vendors. The list of subject matter experts in the Western Region spans 15 different topic areas relevant to produce safety and preventive controls and nine commodities. The list created in 2019 was updated to include new members and expertise (n=40). InWashington, subject matter experts attended and presented at the Tilth Conference Farm Walk and PSA Grower Training. During these events, they met with growers to learn more about their needs and explained what services they offer. Objective 5.Evaluate the impact of WRCEFS-Continuation education, training and technical assistance programs through ongoing program assessment. In the current reporting period, information about 95 workshops and training opportunities were received. This including trainings in the following states: Arizona (UofA, AZDA), California (CAFF), Hawaii (UofH), Idaho (ISDA, UofI), New Mexico (NMDA and NMSU), Oregon (ODA, OSU),and Washington (WSU, Tilth Alliance). Of these, 49 were PSA grower courses, 3 FSPCA PCHF, 2 Produce Safety Professional Development workshops, 14 basic food safety workshops, 1 seminar series on GAPs, 5 environmental monitoring workshops, 1 Food Microbiology 101 course, 1 preharvest ag water course, 1 preharvest ag water TTT course, 13 webinars, 1 "farm walk" session, and 4 conference presentations. WRCEFS is currently working on analyzing FSPCA PCHF and PSA pre/post-tests in our region for publication. Oregon PSA data from June 2017-June 2020 has been analyzed for knowledge gain for in-person and remote delivery courses. Overall, increase in produce safetyknowledge has been observed for all trainings, with an average knowledge gain of 25%.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, E. Newbold, C. Callahan. How Oregon and the western region are using the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting Conference, Cleveland, OH, October 24-28, 2020. (Poster)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Waite-Cusic, J., E. Newbold, C. Callahan, J. Kovacevic. How Oregon and the Western Region are using the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. OSU Extension Annual Conference, Corvallis, OR, December 2-5, 2019. (Poster)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Western Regional Center Updates. Food Safety Outreach Program National Project Directors Meeting. Virtual, August 18-19, 2020. (oral, invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Welcome, introductions, and meeting objectives. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 4th Annual Meeting. Virtual. May 12, 2020. (oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Brown, S., J. Kovacevic, E. Newbold, C. Callahan. Peer review process for add-on materials. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 4th Annual Meeting. May 12, 2020. Virtual via Zoom (Oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Food Safety in the Time of COVID-19 Special Session Introduction. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 4th Annual Meeting. Virtual. May 12, 2020. (oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. Brown. Western Regional Center (WRCEFS): 2019-2020 Update. North Central Region (NCR) Annual Meeting. Virtual April 2, 2020. (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. Brown. Western Regional Center (WRCEFS): 2019-2020 Update. Northeast Center (NECAFS) Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA, February 11-12, 2020. (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J., and S. Brown. Western Regional Center (WRCEFS): 2019-2020 Update. Southern Center Annual Meeting. Savannah, GA. January 9, 2020. (oral, invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Qin, L.*, S. Brown, J. Kovacevic. Assessing knowledge gain in Oregon produce growers following Produce Safety Alliance trainings. 2020 ASE Symposium, Virtual, August 14, 2020. (Oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Using Zoom polls for PSA pre- and post-tests. PSA Educator Call. May 18, 2020. Webinar (Oral, invited).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dery, J.L., D. Gerrity, and C. M. Rock. 2020. Minimizing Risks: Use of Surface Water in pre-Harvest Agricultural Irrigation, Part II: Sodium and Calcium Hypochlorite (Chlorine) Treatment Methods. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dery, J.L., J. Sughroue, and C. M. Rock. 2020. Minimizing Risks: Use of Surface Water in pre-Harvest Agricultural Irrigation, Part III: Peroxyacetic Acid (PAA) Treatment Methods. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Critzer, F. 2020. Produce Safety Rule Exemptions and Exclusions for Washington Produce Growers. Washington State University Extension Publication FS340E. Washington State University


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

Outputs
Target Audience:The WRCEFS-Continuation target audience included stakeholders from university, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community- based organizations (CBOs). Representatives from all four sub-regions of WRCEFS participated in 2019 annual meeting, and sub-target audience of food processors and produce growers within each region was invited to webinars, grower and processor trainings. In addition, three experts from WRC regions have been recruited for reviews of alternate curricula in 2019, and a list of experts has been created for reviews of add-on materials. Additionally, WRCEFS continues to collaborate with other regional centers, existing alliances (PSA, FSPCA), lead center, FDA, USDA and State lead agencies; with representatives from these groups having attended the 2019 WRCEFS annual meeting. Changes/Problems:In Southwest sub-region, it was noted that the initial wave of growers interested in completing a PS grower training may be waning. Fully exempt or qualified exempt growers are not interested (for the most part) in going to a PSA training and would rather have "right-sized" food safety that still helps them improve their practices but does not necessarily have them get into compliance with the law. In the Northwest sub-region, Dr. Faith Critzer assumed leadership for this project within WSU after the departure of co-PI Dr. Barbara Rasco in June 2019. Dr. Critzer has familiarized herself with the expectations of the project and will work to fulfill her role. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Lead trainers and instructors from WRCEFS region have organized and delivered 64 trainings, workshops, and webinars for produce growers and food processors in the Western Region from September 2018 to August 2019. This project led to training and professional development of 2 MS students and 2 high school students. Curriculum being developed and piloted by WSU for agricultural water treatment will provide an advanced course to educate extension professionals and other members of the WRC so that they may better communicate with their stakeholders. Two Lead Trainer applications were paid through WRCEFS for PSA trainers at UC Davis. In the Mountain States: New Mexico team utilized the university Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center as a classroom to present OFRR and Farm Inspection techniques and water sampling instructional materials. Inspectors of other states were able to practice conducting farm manager interviews and mock inspections using their state inspectional tools. 104 Producers attended PSR training at eight locations between July 1, 2018 and June 1 2019. Two classes were taught in Spanish. A Master's degree study was funded to validate an alternative to FSMA's requirements for developing a microbial water quality profile of surface water used for irrigation. The project's objective was to determine if multiple producers all who draw surface water from the same irrigation canal could share a single microbial water quality profile of the canal as an option to each producer expending resources to develop individual profiles for their farm. The study took place in the central Rio Grande basin of New Mexico, where irrigation systems of open canals are typical for surface irrigation in the southwest. In Wyoming, while no FSMA specific training have been held, hands-on Food Safety/Culinary Trainings through ICN (funded through USDA CACFP grant and USDA Farm to School grant) took place. One GAP for School Gardens training was held, and 3 additional trainings in 2020 are planned at locations that have just erected a high tunnel or geodome. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Regular email updates to WRC members and also people from outside the region that have signed up to receive updates through the WRCEFS website (125 subscribers as of August 2019). Annual meeting report developed and shared publicly via WRCEFS website: https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/system/files/wrcefs_2019_annual_meeting_minutes_public.pdf. Monthly calls with LRCC and other Regional Centers, and monthly calls with WRCEFS members to provide updates on activities. In different sub-regions and states, communications also occur through emails and bi-annual newsletter (Hawaii, Wyoming) to audiences that include producers, schools, child care centers, and community members. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Facilitate 2 PSA Advanced Trainings in the Western Region. Water and biological soil amendment workshops are also planned in CA in 2020. They will be designed for growers, regulators, and educators. Objective 2: Organize 4th annual meeting in 2020 in New Mexico. Continue with monthly communications via Zoom, and email updates on FSMA-activities with broad member base, acquired through website sign-up. Objective 3: Collect feedback from Regional Centers and LRCC on v2 of the add-on review forms; finalize forms and pilot them with several add-ons that have been submitted to FSR Clearinghouse. Continue to collaborate with NECAFS on this effort. Objective 4: Annually update SME list for the Western Region, and share the lists with LRCC and Regional Centers. Objective 5: Continue to collect evaluation data from WRCEFS sub-regions and Western Region FSOPs.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The overall long-term goal for the WRCEFS-Continuation, is to build upon the collaborative infrastructure established in the U.S. Western Region to support continued food safety education, training, extension, outreach, and technical assistance in compliance with FSMA. Objective 1. Support the development of and offer continuing educational opportunities to a cadre of PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers and FSPCA Lead Instructors within the Western U.S. The Center is working with LRCC and the Southern Center to bring the Advanced PSA Training workshop, currently being developed by SC and PSA, and planned to be piloted in December 2019 and January 2020 in the Southern Center (Lake Alfred, FL) to the Western Region. At least two workshops are planned in the Western Region, tentatively in early 2020 (March-April) and 2021, locations TBD. Dr. Faith Critzer from WSU (NW sub-region lead) The training is advanced and has been revised and piloted in August 2019 (n=22) in Florida. This training will be offered in 2020 to members of the WRC in a train-the-trainer (TTT) format so that they may offer it to stakeholders they serve. Dr. Nancy Flores is working on a curriculum for TTT course focused on "GMP personnel" modules for low literacy personnel, and activity aids for those trainings. Once finalized, training will be offered to WRC trainers. Objective 2. Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the Western U.S. WRCEFS Annual Meeting was held in Portland, OR on May 15-16, 2019. Forty seven participants, representing WRCEFS sub-regions, state departments of agriculture, NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs), and funded Food Safety Outreach Projects (FSOP), attended the meeting, and provided updates on their work. This included discussions on efforts and best practices in the delivery of FSMA-related training, education and technical assistance within the western U.S., alignment of evaluation efforts and reporting, and further development of collaborative networks. A report summarizing the outcomes of the meeting is available at: https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/system/files/wrcefs_2019_annual_meeting_minutes_public.pdf Additional in-person update meeting was held at the IAFP Conference (Louisville, Kentucky), on July 21, 2019. Six monthly calls, including sub-regions and NGOs. Starting in December 2019, CAP grant holders in the WRECFS will be invited on a quarterly basis. Eight email updates on FSMA-related events shared with WRCEFS members (n=125 as of Aug. 2019). Objective 3. Establish protocols to review original and modified add-on materials, food safety training curricula, and best practice approaches to ensure consistency with FSMA guidelines. To support the ongoing efforts of FSOPs and other food safety initiatives, standardized rubrics were created for the peer review process for add-on materials being added to the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse, in collaboration with NECAFS. Two forms (v1) were created and piloted during the WRCEFS 3rd annual meeting in Portland: (i) Add-on review request form, and (ii) Review of add-on materials form. Six add-ons previously developed by WRCEFS (2017-2018) were used to pilot the forms with six groups at the annual meeting. Comments from the working groups were compiled and forms are currently being updated to reflect suggestions for improvements. Revised forms (v2) will be shared with RCs and LRCC in October 2019. Objective 4. Identify subject matter experts in the Western U.S. for the existing technical assistance networks that target farmers, processors, and vendors. Regional subject matter experts (SMEs) spanning 15 different topic areas pertaining to produce safety and preventive controls and nine commodities were identified, including: o o o o o o o o o Objective 5. Evaluate the impact of WRCEFS-Continuation education, training and technical assistance programs through ongoing program assessment. A guidance document called "Food Safety Trainings in the Western Region Evaluation Tools and Expectations" was developed and shared with WRCEFS members, including all funded FSOP projects, as well as LRCC and other Regional Centers. At the start of this grant cycle WRCEFS requested the use of standardized evaluation tools/documents for FSMA trainings, and those were shared via email with the members and also discussed in detail at the annual meeting in May 2019. Standardized evaluation documents that were shared included: (i) cover page for tracking of trainings, modified for the Western Region; (ii) attendee information excel sheet; (iii) pre/post tests and answer keys for PSA and FSPCA trainings, and scoring excel templates; (iv) follow-up surveys, and (v) attendance questionnaire modified for the Western Region. Box shared folder was created and shared with the members, with unrestricted access (https://oregonstate.app.box.com/v/wrcefs2019meeting). In the current reporting period, information about 64 workshops and trainings was received, including trainings in the following states: Arizona (UofA, AZDA), California (CAFF, CCOF, UC Davis), Hawaii (UofH), Oregon (OSU, ODA), New Mexico (NMSU), Washington (WSU, Tilth Alliance), and Wyoming (WY Dept. of Education). Of those, 33 were PSA grower courses, 2 PSA TTT, 6 FSPCA PCHF, 7 basic food safety and microbiology courses, 2 webinars, 2 environmental monitoring workshops, 6 supplemental FSMA workshops, 1 ag water testing workshop, 1 GAP for school gardens workshop, and 4 "farm walks" sessions. Arizona (n=7): 1 PSA integrated train-the-trainer (TTT) and grower training (GT); 5 PSA GTs. California (n=20): 6 basic food safety trainings by CAFF; 2 PSA GTs and 2 webinars by CCOF and UC Davis; 5 FSPCA/PCQI and 5 PSA courses by UC Davis. Hawaii (n=11): 4 PSA GTs and 1 PSA TTT workshop; 6 Supplemental workshops were provided to provide supplemental information on topics related to FSMA (e.g. Irrigation water quality management, worker health and hygiene, and proper use of soil amendments of biological origin). Oregon (n=13): 11 PSA GTs in collaboration with Oregon Dept. of Agriculture; 1 FSPCA/PCQI course; 1 pathogen environmental monitoring workshop. New Mexico (n=2): 2 PSA by NMSU. Washington (n=10): 2 PSA GTs, 1 Food micro 101, and 1 environmental monitoring workshop by WSU; 1 PSA GT in collaboration with the National Farmers Union, 4 farm walk events, 1 microbial water quality testing workshop by Tilth Alliance. Wyoming (n=1): 1 GAP for School Gardens; other courses unrelated to FSMA include 6 ICN Healthy Cuisine for Kids Training, 2 ICN Healthy ME!, 2 ICN CACFP Meal Pattern Requirements.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WRCEFS). SRIPS Conference, Atlanta, GA, November 11, 2018. (oral; invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stone, D., J. Kovacevic. Opportunities to integrate biological and chemical hazard prevention in a disruptive food landscape. European Food Safety Authority Conference, Parma, Italy, September 18-21, 2018. (poster)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J., D. Stone. Meeting objectives and introduction to WRCEFS 2.0. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 3rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 15-16, 2019. (oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Williams, J., K. Schneider, J. Kovacevic. Lead Regional Center, WRCEFS and FSOPs: Working Together. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 3rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 15-16, 2019. (oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J. WRCEFS and FSOPs  Next steps. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety 3rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, May 15-16, 2019. (oral)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J., J. Waite-Cusic, D. Stone, R. McGorrin, C. DeWitt, T. Dean, E. DiCaprio, A. Pires, B. Rasco, P. Rivadeneira, C. Rock, J. Uyeda. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety. 2019 Annual Meeting, National Consortium for Produce Safety, NASDA. Orlando, FL, March 6-8, 2019. (poster, invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kovacevic, J. Western Regional Center Continuation: Overview. Southern Center Region Food Safety Outreach Project Meeting. Savannah, GA, January 10, 2019. (oral, invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kovacevic, J., D. Stone, C. DeWitt, R. McGorrin, T. Dean, E. DiCaprio, A. Pires, B. Rasco, P. Rivadeneira, C. Rock. Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WRCEFS): Summary 2015-2018 and Continuation 2018-2021. FSOP Transition Meeting, Washington, DC. November 28, 2018. (oral)