Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This proposal aims to build a collaborative infrastructure in the Southeast to support Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) compliant training, education, and extension outreach to the produce industry. The proposed Southern Center (SC) includes participation from land-grant institutions in AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA. The Center will lead, manage, and coordinate regional assistance programs targeted at owners and operators of small and medium-sized farms, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, small food processors, and small fruit and vegetable merchants. In addition to land-grant institutions, partnerships with state and local regulators and community-based and non-governmental organizations will be leveraged to maximize training effectiveness and delivery opportunities. The objectives are as follows:1) Develop a cadre of FSMA Lead Trainers/Instructors and support the delivery of regional and stakeholder-specific education, training curricula, and technical assistance programs in the Southern US.2) Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance.3) Create strong partnerships with representative government and non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and tribal organizations to build capacity and strengthen collaboration within the Southern US.4) Evaluate the impact of SC education and training through ongoing program assessments.Programs will focus on helping audiences understand FSMA regulations and implement systems to meet all current requirements to ensure a safe produce supply.In addition, UF will serve as the lead institution for all four Regional Centers and will facilitate communication and information sharing between the centers.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The four major objectives for Southern Regional Center:Objective 1.Develop a cadre of FSMA Lead Trainers/Instructors and support the development and delivery of region and stakeholder-specific education, training curricula, and technical assistance programs in the southern US.Built upon the backbone of PSA and FSPCA Trainers-of-Trainers (TTT), and our PSA partnerships developed over the previous nine years, we will continue to identify, recruit, train, and mentor a network of food safety professionals, including representatives from academia, state and local regulatory agencies, NGOs, commodity group associations, and local food hubs, to reach our target audiences at the regional and local levels by continuing to sponsor train-the-trainer courses across the Southern US. We will offer continuing education courses and mentoring opportunities to increase knowledge for PSR, PCHF, and other programs as needed; and to build awareness and expertise in the new curricula.Objective 2:Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the southern US.In addition to organizing SRIPS, the SC will coordinate with partner institutions to bring a core group of co-PIs and collaborators together on a bi-annual basis. The SC staff will manage a website including the center objectives, the consortium of involved institutions, contact information for all PIs and Collaborators, regional and center-specific resources, and a calendar of future training events.Objective 3.Create strong partnerships with representative government and non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and tribal organizations to build capacity and strengthen collaboration for FSMA-compliant trainings within the southern US. Activities for this objective include:a) provide training opportunities for existing curricula such as PSA, alternative PSA, and FSPCA; b) create innovative and up-to-date training materials for industry partners; c) develop and deliver regional, commodity, and audience-appropriate training programs; and d) update and deliver the Advanced PSA Training targeted at industry partners.Objective 4.Evaluate the impact of Southern Center education and training through ongoing program assessments.The annual evaluation for the project is framed using the Targeting Outcomes of Programs (TOP; Harder, 2009; Rockwell & Bennett, 2004) model. The use of the TOP Model is appropriate as its focus on both process and outcome indicators will help guide discussions with the project team regarding progress towards project goals and areas for improvement.Implement standardized evaluation procedures to measure outputs, reactions, knowledge, and behavioral outcomes associated with Obj 1-3.The four major objectives for Lead Regional Coordination Center (LRCC) sub-award?Objective 1: Identify strategies to coordinate FSOP projects and provide a framework for collecting project outputs and impacts, helping RCs standardize data collection and evaluation practices: A coordination/assessment-related objective of this subproposal is providing a means of capturing the output and impacts of current and future FSOP projects.This objective will leverage the concurrent FSOP-related communication efforts of Objective 2 of the LRCC. The LRCC will conduct tangible activities that, when completed, will accomplish this objective.Objective 2: Develop and execute an effective plan for the duration of the project that will encourage and facilitate communication across the RCs, the FSOPs, NIFA, FDA and other program leaders:The primary coordination objective of this subproject proposal is to facilitate communication and coordination, through the LRCC and the RCs. The requirements of the RCs are to lead, manage and coordinate the regional development and implementation of food safety training and outreach for the target audience described in the introduction in each regional area. Year 1 activities will focus on maintaining the continuity of the third-generation awards and transitioning to the fourth-generation awards (2024-2027). Co-PI Benge will prepare annual reports for the LRCC project team framed using the TOP model discussed above.Objective 3: Develop a system for tracking and reporting information on training, training resources, best practices, intended audiences, and providing resources directly to stakeholders.This objective will be carried out through the communication infrastructure established in Objective 2, as well as that established in the third-generation RCs.Major outreach efforts conducted by the RCs will be captured in a unified format, with workshops, trainings, outreach, and technical assistance and audience profile document.Objective 4: Develop a continuity plan for communicating with the currently funded RCs: The LRCC is committed, should we be funded, to building on the effective communication infrastructure and partnerships developed over our previous award. We have established relationships with the current RCs, who have provided support letters on their intent to work collaboratively for the overall benefit of the target audience for this program, namely stakeholders affected by FSMA requirements. We anticipate no major pitfalls and commit to working successfully with the RCs, sponsors, and all stakeholders regardless of to whom the awards are made.
Project Methods
Southern Regional CenterObjective 1.Develop a cadre of FSMA Lead Trainers/Instructors and support the development and delivery of region and stakeholder-specific education, training curricula, and technical assistance programs in the southern US.Techniques to be Employed: The TTT approach has proven itself as an effective method for building a cadre of instructors that has enabled the training programs to reach more people in diverse locations and with distinct needs. One of the most important factors for success is selecting the correct individuals to be trained and providing continued support as they begin to train. This method allows for regional teams of proficient educators who can train the stakeholders. This creates a multiplier effect, effectively expanding the overall impacts of the program to reach greater numbers of people (Skelton and Josiah, 2003). It also has the added advantage of reducing the travel costs associated with small numbers of trainers and increases the flexibility in scheduling programs (Richards et al., 2012).Objective 2:Coordinate a regional communication strategy to discuss ongoing efforts and best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within the southern US.Techniques to be Employed:In addition to organizing SRIPS, the SC will coordinate with partner institutions to bring a core group of co-PIs and collaborators together on a bi-annual basis. The Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Association (SRFVA) Conference and the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) serve as excellent 'anchor' events for grant participants, stakeholders, and regulators to meet and discuss outcomes and share ideas. These also serve as meeting points for working groups. The SC staff will manage a website including the center objectives, the consortium of involved institutions, contact information for all PIs and Collaborators, regional and center-specific resources, and a calendar of future training events.Objective 3.Create strong partnerships with representative government and non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and tribal organizations to build capacity and strengthen collaboration for FSMA-compliant trainings within the southern US.Techniques to be Employed:Working with the other regional centers, the SC and targeted stakeholders will leverage resources to 1) develop training curricula to aid industry partners, 2) provide training opportunities around the southeast and virtually, and 3) provide technical assistance as needed to ensure that our industry partners have the most current information to implement their food safety programs effectively. Building upon the success of the PSA Advanced training and other training workshops, we will continue to refine existing workshops and develop new ones to meet stakeholder needs.Objective 4.Evaluate the impact of Southern Center education and training through ongoing program assessments.Techniques to be Employed:Process evaluation, also known as program monitoring, "is the systematic and continual documentation of key aspects of program performance that assess whether the program is operating as intended or according to some appropriate standard" (Rossi et al., 2004). Process evaluations compare what was done to what was planned. Records (Hatry, 2004) are an important data source for process evaluation. Outputs to be monitored in the process evaluation include, but are not limited to: (a) workshop/training attendance, (b) number of individuals successfully becoming Trainers/Instructors, (c) geographic distribution of Trainers,/Instructors (d) number of workshops conducted, (e) dissemination of regional training materials on the SC website and/or the NE clearinghouse, (f) number and type of produce safety trainings conducted beyond PSA, alternative PSA, and FSPCA, (g) development and dissemination of standardized, FSMA compliant curricula, (h) number and type of standardized rubrics created to assess compliance of FSOPs with FSMA rules, (i) development and dissemination of standardized evaluation instruments, (j) number of grant personnel trained to implement the project's standardized evaluation procedures, and (k) development of a strategy for communication with FSOPs.Lead Regional Coordination Center SubproposalObjective 1: Identify strategies to coordinate FSOP projects and provide a framework for collecting project outputs and impacts, helping RCs standardize data collection and evaluation practices: A coordination/assessment-related objective of this subproposal is providing a means of capturing the output and impacts of current and future FSOP projects.Objective 2: Develop and execute an effective plan for the duration of the project that will encourage and facilitate communication across the RCs, the FSOPs, NIFA, FDA and other program leaders:The primary coordination objective of this subproject proposal is to facilitate communication and coordination, through the LRCC and the RCs. The requirements of the RCs are to lead, manage and coordinate the regional development and implementation of food safety training and outreach for the target audience described in the introduction in each regional area.Objective 3: Develop a system for tracking and reporting information on training, training resources, best practices, intended audiences, and providing resources directly to stakeholders.This objective will be carried out through the communication infrastructure established in Objective 2, as well as that established in the third-generation RCs.Objective 4: Develop a continuity plan for communicating with the currently funded RCs: The LRCC is committed, should we be funded, to building on the effective communication infrastructure and partnerships developed over our previous award. We have established relationships with the current RCs, who have provided support letters on their intent to work collaboratively for the overall benefit of the target audience for this program, namely stakeholders affected by FSMA requirements. We anticipate no major pitfalls and commit to working successfully with the RCs, sponsors, and all stakeholders regardless of to whom the awards are made.Techniques to be Employed:The four objectives of the LRCC will focus on the collection of data from theRegional Centers, FSOP grantawardees, and Center partners for the purpose of evaluation and reporting. Dr. Matt Benge will lead the effort to collect and coordinate these efforts.