Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, our project served an audience of beginning urban farmers, from Southern California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, from non-traditional agricultural backgrounds with small-sized fresh produce and livestock operations. We reached a total of 66 target audience participants through two programs: 1. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, 'Food Safety Basics for Urban Farmers', Bell, CA (N= 38), August 11, 2017; and 2. Produce Safey Alliance Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course, Pomona, CA (N=28), October 24-25, 2017. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, and general Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training to small scale urban farmers in the Los Angeles, CA metropolitan area. This audience of fresh fruit and vegetable producers is not typically reached by food safety training programs. Additionally, this project provided the opportunity for expertise focus and professional development between Cal Poly Pomona (PIs Cullen, Murinda, and Singh) and the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety. Cullen attended two project director meetings: 1. May 11, 2017 Biose, ID; and 2. March 27-28, 2018 University of California, Davis. These networks provided the required networks for Cullen and PIs at Cal Poly Pomona to further develop Objectives 1 and 2 of this NIFA FSOP project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through curriculum, training workshops, and on-farm food safety demonstrations in collaboration with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Produce Safety Alliance. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
A growing number of beginning urban farmers from non-traditional agriculture backgrounds with small-sized fresh fruit and vegetable operations has yet to be reached, trained and equipped with hands-on implementation knowledge of the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule. 1. Align FDA Interactive National Curriculum Standard (INCS) entry-level competencies with existing Cal Poly Pomona cross-disciplinary food safety courses; & 2. Develop an expanded course outline for a new urban agriculture food safety course in the Department of Plant Science at Cal Poly Pomona. Results to date include network and collaborations between Cal Poly Pomona College of Agriculture, Produce Safety Alliance, and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources fostered by planning, delivering, and assessing the two urban agriculture food safety training events. Beginning January 2nd, 2018 project PI Dr. Cullen will be appointed to the newly created Cal Poly Pomona College of Agriculture FSMA Produce Rule Compliance Coordinator position. Project PI (Cullen) submitted a proposal to California State University Agricultural Research Institute (CSU ARI) Campus Competitive Grant Program, March 2017 to match the current USDA NIFA FSOP program funding with applied research. Dr. Cullen received the grant award notice fall 2017($60K match) for her project titled "Food Safety on California Urban Farms: Harnessing biological soil amendment microbial activity without increasing risk of microbial foodborne illness". More information available at: https://www.cpp.edu/~agri/news/2017-food-safety-grant-cullen.shtml Objectives 1 and 2 pertaining to food safety curriculum enhancement at Cal Poly Pomona College of Agriculture will be developed further under the CSU ARI grant. While this work will be completed outside the formal funding period of the terminated/completed NIFA FSOP grant award, the network and collaborations to do so were founded during this NIFA FSOP project term. 3. Identify, deliver, and implement customized food safety programs to hard-to-reach, niche, and beginning urban farmers & underserved consumers from socially disadvantaged (food desert) communities. Two formal educational programs were delivered during the current reporting period. First, project director (Dr. Cullen) joined University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Urban Agriculture Workshop Series organizers, Dr. Rachel Surls (UC Cooperative Extension, Los Angeles County) and Dr. Jennifer Sowerwine (University of California at Berkeley) in planning and delivery of the Southern California workshop titled "Food Safety Basics for Urban Farmers" on August 11, 2017 at GrowGood Urban Farm, in Bell, CA. This day-long program combined classroom instruction and hands-on field experience. Dr. Cullen presented two topics, understanding micro-organisms on the urban farm that can cause illness, and Food Safety Legal Considerations: Brief overview of California Laws related to community food producers and food safety. Second, on October 24-25, 2017 Dr. Cullen and USDA NIFA FSOP project collaborator Donna Pahl (Produce Safety Alliance Lead Trainer) delivered the FDA/USDA Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course to 28 participants at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Pomona, CA. PSA Integrated Training combines both the PSA Grower Training and the PSA Train-the-Trainer Course. This integration was developed to provide options for areas of the country that may have some growers that need training and some trainers that need training, but neither group is large enough to warrant a single training focus. In addition, trainers who are new to the area of produce safety have expressed an interest in seeing how the modules are presented to growers. One benefit to an integrated training is that trainers will be able to participate in the PSA Grower Training Course on Day 1 and learn from the questions grower participants ask. Trainers will then have the opportunity to ask more in-depth questions on Day 2 to help prepare them to deliver the PSA Grower Training Course. The University of California Cooperative Extension (Los Angeles County) workshop was held at GrowGood Urban Farm, Bell CA in Los Angeles. Since 2011, GrowGood has been working with the Salvation Army to develop a garden-based program for the residents of the Bell Shelter that uses healthy food and gardening as a catalyst for healing. The 1.5-acre farm consists of an orchard of 71 fruit trees, 14 raised vegetable garden beds, half-acre of in-ground row crops, and a small flock of chickens. The PSA Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Produce Safety Course was held at Cal Poly Pomona in Los Angeles County, a non-land grant university Hispanic Serving Institution renowned for its learn-by-doing philosophy integrated into every B.S. and M.S. degree earned. More specifically, our target audience included urban farmers (plus one traditional citrus grower from Ventura County); Pasadena Unified School District school garden coordinators (2); Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate and graduate students (3); Cal Poly Pomona Faculty (1 Plant Science, 1 Animal Science, 2 Food Science and Technology); Cal Poly Pomona University Farm Produce Growers (3); UC Cooperative Extension Specialist (1); Technical Service Providers (Agriculture and Food Testing Lab; Professional Planning, Design and Project Management Firm; California Specialty Crop service organizations to advance the food and farming industries' commitment to food safety); and small business innovators (2), micro- and leafy green hydroponic container farms, a juice company; and a Community Garden/Outreach Non-Profit Organization Manager. At least three of the target audience sectors (Technical Service Providers and the Community Garden) operate bilingual (Spanish/English) urban farmer education and hands-on training programs. 66 participants increased their knowledge of produce safety requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, and indicated in workshop survey instruments their commitment to implementing produce safety practices on their farm, business, or educational programs. Program participants also increased their knowledge on Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training; Soil Amendments; Wildlife, Domesticated Animals and Land Use; Agricultural Water (Production and Postharvest Water); Postharvest Handling and Sanitation; and How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan. Participant survey results following the training show that these individuals are more confident they can implement practices to address food safety risks related to worker health, hygiene, and training; reduce food safety risks related to soil amendments, wildlife, domesticated animals and land use, and production and postharvest water. They increased their knowledge and confidence in implementing practices to address food safety risks related to postharvest handling and sanitation, and how to develop a food safety plan and traceability system. This project resulted in urban farmers motivated to comply with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, even if technically exempt due to annual sales and distance to market as per FDA regulation. The project team is working to establish a Western Regional Urban Agriculture Food Safety center at Cal Poly Pomona. 24 urban farmers, educators, and industry professionals received an Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Certificate of Completion of FDA's FSMA Produce Safety Alliance Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course and are now qualified PSA Trainers, a significant increase in Southern California food safety practitioners with FDA content expertise and access to hard-to-reach, underserved urban agriculture producers and organizations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:TARGET AUDIENCE: Broadly, our project served an audience of beginning urban farmers, from Southern California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, from non-traditional agricultural backgrounds with small-sized fresh produce and livestock operations. We reached a total of 66 target audience participants through two programs (UC ANR Food Safety Basics for Urban Farmers, Bell, CA, n= 38; PSA Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course, Pomona, CA, n=28). EFFORTS: Two formal educational programs were delivered during the current reporting period under Objective 3, "Identify, deliver, and implement FDA standard and highly-customized food safety education programs to hard-to-reach urban farmers". Project PI (Dr. Cullen) joined University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Urban Agriculture Workshop Series organizers, Dr. Rachel Surls (UC Cooperative Extension, Los Angeles County) and Dr. Jennifer Sowerwine (University of California at Berkeley) in planning and delivery of the Southern California workshop titled "Food Safety Basics for Urban Farmers" on August 11, 2017 at GrowGood Urban Farm, in Bell, CA. This day-long program combined classroom instruction and hands-on field experience. Dr. Cullen presented two topics, understanding micro-organisms on the urban farm that can cause illness, and Food Safety Legal Considerations: Brief overview of California Laws related to community food producers and food safety. On October 24-25, 2017 Dr. Cullen and USDA NIFA FSOP project collaborator Donna Pahl (Produce Safety Alliance Lead Trainer) delivered the FDA/USDA Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course to 28 participants at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Pomona, CA. PSA Integrated Training combines both the PSA Grower Training and the PSA Train-the-Trainer Course. This integration was developed to provide options for areas of the country that may have some growers that need training and some trainers that need training, but neither group is large enough to warrant a single training focus. In addition, trainers who are new to the area of produce safety have expressed an interest in seeing how the modules are presented to growers. One benefit to an integrated training is that trainers will be able to participate in the PSA Grower Training Course on Day 1 and learn from the questions grower participants ask. Trainers will then have the opportunity to ask more in-depth questions on Day 2 to help prepare them to deliver the PSA Grower Training Course. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Project team faculty, staff and students from Cal Poly Pomona, and UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles County advanced professional skills through completion of the Produce Safety Alliance Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course and Association of Food and Drug Officials Certificate of Completion granting status as PSA Trainers. Project PI (Cullen) submitted a proposal to California State University Agricultural Research Institute (CSU ARI) Campus Competitive Grant Program, March 2017 to match the current USDA NIFA FSOP program funding with applied research. Dr. Cullen received the grant award notice fall 2017($60K match) for her project titled "Food Safety on California Urban Farms: Harnessing biological soil amendment microbial activity without increasing risk of microbial foodborne illness". The project start date is January 2018. USDA NIFA FSOP provided this opportunity to leverage FSOP funding and expand scope of the project. Objectives of the CSU ARI project match are to 1) Assess effects on food safety of compost alone, biochar alone, and compost + biochar treatments in leafy green and root vegetables on California urban farms, 2) Evaluate urban agriculture soils for beneficial microbial activity, and microbial foodborne illness risk. The CSU ARI will mentor 1-2 agricultural science M.S. students, and 2 undergraduate students in the high-impact practice of mentored research. Outcomes will increase urban farmer capacity to meet FSMA Produce Safety Rule standards and avoid foodborne illness risks in an emerging Southern California agricultural production system, and equip CSU faculty and students with science-based information to offer technical production guidance to urban farmers within California's Specialty Crop industry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Review 6 existing Cal Poly Pomona College of Agriculture courses for alignment with FDA Interactive National Curriculum Standard (INCS) (IFPTI, 2016): (Winter/Spring Quarters 2018) Create curriculum alignment matrices following Cal Poly Pomona - INCS course alignment review to integrate FDA recognized core curriculum into College of Agriculture courses. Winter/Spring Quarters 2018. Develop Expanded Course Outline (ECO) for a new Urban Agriculture Food Safety course. (Winter/Spring Quarters 2018). Strategic planning meeting with project team members and 1-2 WRFSC coordinators at Cal Poly Pomona: farms, growing facilities and CARFS, meetings with students, visit RootDown LA's Youth Driven Neighborhood Food Systems gardens sites in South LA. (Spring or Summer 2018). Design, Deliver and Implement Urban Agriculture Food Safety Short Course (2-3 days) for RootDown LA youth and CPP College of Agriculture Students. (Summer 2018).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
IMPACT STATEMENT: Lack of awareness of US Food and Drug Administration food safety regulations exposes urban farmers and consumers risk of microbial foodborne illness outbreaks. A growing number of beginning urban farmers from non-traditional agriculture backgrounds with small-sized fresh fruit and vegetable operations has yet to be reached, trained and equipped with hands-on implementation knowledge of the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule. The goal of this project is to deliver highly-customized food safety training to hard-to-reach and underserved urban agriculture produce growers and create a Western Regional Urban Agriculture Training based at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona College of Agriculture in Los Angeles County. The project team delivered two food safety workshops to urban famers, small-scale farm grower and farm worker educators, food safety technical service consultants, school and community garden managers, and students and faculty from Cal Poly Pomona, and University of California Cooperative Extension in Southern California. 66 participants increased their knowledge of produce safety requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, and indicated in workshop survey instruments their commitment to implementing produce safety practices on their farm, business, or educational programs. Program participants also increased their knowledge on Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training; Soil Amendments; Wildlife, Domesticated Animals and Land Use; Agricultural Water (Production and Postharvest Water); Postharvest Handling and Sanitation; and How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan. Participant survey results following the training show that these individuals are more confident they can implement practices to address food safety risks related to worker health, hygiene, and training; reduce food safety risks related to soil amendments, wildlife, domesticated animals and land use, and production and postharvest water. They increased their knowledge and confidence in implementing practices to address food safety risks related to postharvest handling and sanitation, and how to develop a food safety plan and traceability system. This project resulted in urban farmers motivated to comply with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, even if technically exempt due to annual sales and distance to market as per FDA regulation. The project team is working to establish a Western Regional Urban Agriculture Food Safety center at Cal Poly Pomona. 24 urban farmers, educators, and industry professionals received an Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Certificate of Completion of FDA's Produce Safety Alliance Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course and are now considered PSA Grower Food Safety Trainers, a significant gain in Southern California food safety professionals with expertise and access to hard-to-reach, underserved urban agriculture producers and organizations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY OBJECTIVE: Align FDA Interactive National Curriculum Standard (INCS) entry-level competencies with existing Cal Poly Pomona cross- disciplinary food safety courses. Work In Progress. Develop an expanded course outline (ECO) for a new urban agriculture food safety course in Plant Science urban agriculture minor program. Work In Progress. Identify, deliver, and implement customized food safety programs to hard-to-reach, niche, and beginning urban farmers and underserved consumers from socially disadvantaged (food desert) communities. The University of California Cooperative Extension (Los Angeles County) workshop was held at GrowGood Urban Farm, Bell CA in Los Angeles. Since 2011, GrowGood has been working with the Salvation Army to develop a garden-based program for the residents of the Bell Shelter that uses healthy food and gardening as a catalyst for healing. The 1.5-acre farm consists of an orchard of 71 fruit trees, 14 raised vegetable garden beds, half-acre of in-ground row crops, and a small flock of chickens. The PSA Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Produce Safety Course was held at Cal Poly Pomona in Los Angeles County, a non-land grant university Hispanic Serving Institution renowned for its learn-by-doing philosophy integrated into every B.S. and M.S. degree earned. More specifically, our target audience included urban farmers as previously described (plus one traditional citrus grower from Ventura County); Pasadena Unified School District school garden coordinators (2); Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate and graduate students (3); Cal Poly Pomona Faculty (1 Plant Science, 1 Animal Science, 2 Food Science and Technology); Cal Poly Pomona University Farm Produce Growers (3); UC Cooperative Extension Specialist (1); Technical Service Providers (Agriculture and Food Testing Lab; Professional Planning, Design and Project Management Firm; California Specialty Crop service organizations to advance the food and farming industries' commitment to food safety); and small business innovators (2), micro- and leafy green hydroponic container farms, a juice company; and a Community Garden/Outreach Non-Profit Organization Manager. At least three of the target audience sectors (Technical Service Providers and the Community Garden) operate bilingual (Spanish/English) urban farmer education and hands-on training programs. 66 participants increased their knowledge of produce safety requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, and indicated in workshop survey instruments their commitment to implementing produce safety practices on their farm, business, or educational programs. Program participants also increased their knowledge on Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training; Soil Amendments; Wildlife, Domesticated Animals and Land Use; Agricultural Water (Production and Postharvest Water); Postharvest Handling and Sanitation; and How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan. Participant survey results following the training show that these individuals are more confident they can implement practices to address food safety risks related to worker health, hygiene, and training; reduce food safety risks related to soil amendments, wildlife, domesticated animals and land use, and production and postharvest water. They increased their knowledge and confidence in implementing practices to address food safety risks related to postharvest handling and sanitation, and how to develop a food safety plan and traceability system. This project resulted in urban farmers motivated to comply with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, even if technically exempt due to annual sales and distance to market as per FDA regulation. The project team is working to establish a Western Regional Urban Agriculture Food Safety center at Cal Poly Pomona. 24 urban farmers, educators, and industry professionals received an Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Certificate of Completion of FDA's Produce Safety Alliance Integrated Grower and Train-the-Trainer Course and are now considered PSA Grower Food Safety Trainers, a significant gain in Southern California food safety professionals with expertise and access to hard-to-reach, underserved urban agriculture producers and organizations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Publications
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