Recipient Organization
UNH Cooperative Extension
RM 212 Nesmith Hall, 131 Main St
DURHAM,NH 03824
Performing Department
Cooperative Extension
Non Technical Summary
The 2012 Census of Agriculture reports there are 518 maple syrup producers in New Hampshire. We anticipate that many of these operations will be eligible for the retail food establishment exemption under the Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). However, a number of operations, particularly larger and more diversified operations producing an range of value added products will need to comply, and many still do not know where they fall under the rules.The purpose of this project is to create a two day workshop series that will help operations determine whether they must comply with FSMA and provide a relevant and valuable review of state regulations and food safety topics. It is our recommendation to food businesses and farms alike, that even if a food safety plan is not necessary for their business to be compliant, a food safety plan or even a checklist can be a valuable risk management tool. We plan to work with the NH Maple Syrup Producers Association and our associated networks to promote the training and online resources to all producers who will benefit from the information the program will deliver.The proposed program includes a regulatory assessment to verify and clarify our current understanding of the specific steps maple producers will need to take to comply with FSMA, an informational and educational needs assessment of maple businesses in relation to FSMA compliance, and development and delivery of a tailored workshop series and associated educational resources to help these businesses come into compliance.The workshop series will be run twice in different parts of New Hampshire. The workshop series will consist of a one-day in class workshop focusing on the federal and state regulations that may apply to their businesses. The second day will be an on-farm meeting, hosted by a maple producers. This second day will allow the participants to tour a facility where best practices are in place or are being developed. Producers will engage in a group discussion of food safety and FSMA implementation options.Once developed, delivered, evaluated, and refined, the training program for maple producers along with lessons learned will be shared regionally through the NECAFS clearinghouse, an online resource for educators and farm and food businesses. Resources will also be posted on our UNH Cooperative Extensions website for use by maple producers and service providers in state.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Conduct a regulatory assessment to verify and clarify our understanding of the steps New Hampshire maple producers will need to take to comply with FSMA.Conduct an informational and educational needs assessment of New Hampshire maple producers.Create, deliver and evaluate a training program tailored to New Hampshire's maple producers that will help them come into compliance with FSMA.Evaluate the effectiveness of our training program and resulting producer business and practice changes implemented to achieve compliance and improve food safety.Share our findings with regional partners through NECAFS' recently completed clearinghouse and through other regional centers.
Project Methods
Regulatory Assessment (October and November, 2018)Our first step will be to seek verification as necessary from the FDA through questions submitted to the FDA's Technical Assistance Network (TAN) and discussions with state regulators, as to the specific steps maple producers will need to take to come into compliance. It is our current understanding that most New Hampshire maple producers who are not retail food establishments will be considered very small businesses conducting only low risk activities as defined by the Preventive Controls Rule for Human Food of FSMA. As such, they are required to register as a food facility and follow CGMPs. With the verified information obtained, we will create a factsheet for maple producers that will be incorporated into the training program. Realistically, we have already done much of this work, and will continue this effort, including creation of the factsheet, prior to the beginning of the project.Producer Needs Assessment (October and November, 2018)We will assess current production methods and will identify information and education needs of maple producers using an on-line survey distributed to producers through the mailing lists of the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association and UNHCE. The survey will focus on production practices, producers' food safety questions, an assessment of the current level of knowledge of FSMA, and the tools and information the maple syrup producers feel they will need in order to come into compliance. The survey will also serve as a "Save the Date" notification for the in-person workshops we will conduct in the winter of 2018-19.Training Curriculum and Educational Tools Development (November, 2018)Based on the information obtained and verified during the regulatory and producer needs assessments, we will develop the training program and the necessary tools identified.Workshop Series - in-class workshop (December and January - timed to the maple syrup producers' slow season)Using the information gained in the regulatory and producer needs assessments, we will create a training program that will start with two one-day in-person workshops. This will take the form of creating one workshop curriculum and delivering it in two different locations to make it more geographically accessible to participants.Speakers at the workshops will include UNHCE staff and a staff member(s) from the NH Department of Agriculture Markets and Food (DAMF) which regulates the sale of maple syrup in the state. DAMF also runs a voluntary marketing program called the Seal of Quality which requires an annual inspection for maple producers who choose to participate.The information presented in the workshops will help producers come into compliance with FSMA by informing them about the process of registering as a facility, implementing and documenting updated CGMPs, and/or creating and implementing a food safety plan. The workshop will include a best practice recommendation that operations create a food safety plan even though such a plan will not be required for some maple operations under FSMA. Any businesses that do need a Preventive Controls plan will be directed to appropriate educational opportunities available to them, including scheduled Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) Preventive Controls for Human Food courses offered in New Hampshire and in neighboring states.Workshop Series - on-farm workshop (December and January - timed to just before the maple syrup producers season gets busy but after they have gotten the equipment set up and ready)In December and January, we will hold two on-farm meetings, hosted by maple producers, which will allow the participants to tour a facility where best practices are in place or are being developed. Producers will engage in a group discussion of food safety and FSMA implementation options. The date for the meeting will be set prior to the in-person workshop so that the producers can hold the date in their calendars.Evaluate Business Changes and Additional Needs (June 2019 - timed to the end of the maple producers' busy season)In addition to end of session evaluations, an online survey will be conducted with the participants 5 to 6 months after the trainings. At this time we will perform a gap analysis to identify unaddressed challenges or those needing more development and attention.Refine Program Curriculum: (July and August, 2019)Based on evaluation and survey results, and based on our self-evaluation of the program, we will refine the curriculum and associated resources as needed to meet producer needs as identified.Reporting and Sharing of Results: (August and September, 2019)Once developed, delivered, evaluated, and refined, the training program for maple producers along with lessons learned will be shared regionally through the NECAFS clearinghouse. We have been in contact with NECAFS regarding this project and about collaborative plans to make training materials and producer tools available regionally through the network and specifically through the clearinghouse. We will similarly reach out to other regional centers and the Lead National Center, as developed, to share the program through their outreach channels. We will share program agendas, presentations, factsheets, resources developed, numbers of participants and trainers, amount of follow up one-on-one work with participants conducted, outcomes, and participant feedback so that service providers in other maple-producing states may use and adapt the program to meet their state's specific needs.A final report will be developed and provided to the regional center and to USDA-NIFA in REEport. The final report will include program agendas, resources developed, participant demographics, pre and post session survey data showing current and gained knowledge, reported changes or intent to change production or business practices, and impact statements documenting the program's impact on participants.The PD of this project will attend an annual meeting with NIFA and FDA staff where she will report on the progress of the project, share updates on training materials and curricula developed, and report program outcomes to date.UNHCE has developed a website for FSMA resources (https://extension.unh.edu/programs/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma ) and an on-line Farm Food Safety Toolbox (https://nefoodproducers.org/farm-food-safety-toolbox ). The educational and information materials developed as part of this project will be posted on each of these sites for access by maple producers inside and outside of New Hampshire.Program announcements and impacts will be shared with stakeholders and the public through articles posted in UNHCE's Maple Sugaring newsletter, and newsletters of partner organizations such as the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food's Weekly Market Bulletin.The PD of this project will ensure that USDA-NIFA funding support is appropriately acknowledged in all publications, announcements, and other related communications.We have thus far identified one pitfall this program may encounter. The cost of compliance with the regulations may make maple syrup an economically non-viable enterprise for some producers, particularly those where maple is one enterprise within a larger diversified operation.A limitation to our proposed program plan, is that the majority of maple producers in New Hampshire are small part time operations and may be unable or unwilling to take the time out of their schedules to attend the training sessions. We hope that the educational resources we post to our website will help those operators and will serve as resources that Extension Field Specialists can use in one-on-one education with individual businesses as needed.