Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The project took an existing food safety curricula and adapted it for a military veteran audience in order to address military culture and to accommodate for the most common disabilities veterans experience. The ultimate outcome is for Veterans to have increased knowledge and long term retention of food safety practices including the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The learnings from this project could benefit a wide variety of educational programs. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Participants received .8 continuing education credits (CEU's) for the workshop and received a certificate of completion. As a total over 2.88 continuing education credits (or 288 contact hours) were awarded as part of the pilot program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Brightwell, R. (2018, November) Produce Food Safety Training for Military Veterans with Disabilities. Presentation at the Southern Region Integrated Produce Safety Conference, Atlanta Georgia. Brightwell, R. (2018, August) Produce Food Safety Training for Military Veterans with Disabilities. Food Safety Outreach Program Annual Meeting, Blacksburg Virginia. Brightwell, R, Atrice, M. (2018, August) Assistive Technology and Work Site Accommodations for Veterans in Agriculture. Presentation at the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Annual Healthcare Summit, Dallas Texas. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Aim 1: Adapt food safety curricula to be sensitive to military culture • Aim 2: Adapt food safety curricula to accommodate primary disability needs of Veterans • Aim 3: Evaluate if training adaptations were effective to aiding Veterans to learn/retain content • Aim 4: Teach Veterans on food safety including FSMA • Aim 5: Share key learnings with eXtension Regional Center, NIFA and others What was accomplished under these goals? Training veterans can presents unique challenges. These challenges include being sensitive to military culture on one hand while addressing the needs of a possible service related disability on the other. • Military Culture / Peer Support - There is an importance of veterans' connecting with other veterans, which the research indicates may be vital for success when veterans are in learning environments. Having a Veteran as instructor may be an effective strategy in reaching other Veterans. • Disability / Use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) - Many of the veterans entering into agriculture also have a disability diagnosis as a direct result of their service. The pilot was designed on the premise that the rate of disability among veterans is fairly high (22%). Based on this there would be a need to design the curricula in a manner that would allow most users to retain the information. Using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) the content and activities were created. Below are examples: Content was broken down into smaller sections in which learning objectives were clearly stated before and after the presentation. Wherever possible content was simplified. Key principles were clearly illustrated. For instance water testing is an important component of food safety measures on the farm: • Participants received an overview of the importance of water testing, possible causes of contamination and preventative steps in a classroom setting;they watched a demonstration outside at various water sources on the proper technique to take a test (surface and well); they were given a list of testing facilities in their area; andthey went home with a water testing kit. Interactive PowerPoint slides were used that kept visual interest of participants. The slides often incorporated ways for participants to test their knowledge/understanding on different concepts. Slides also encouraged opportunities for audience feedback and participation. Copies of the slides and supporting handouts were given to participants in a booklet. If the presenter referred to a particular handout a visual representation of the handout and page number was shown on the PowerPoint slide. This not only aided participants to find the materials, the physical activity of opening the booklet to find the article provided a 'mental shift' for participants. A bingo game was conducted at the beginning of the day to encourage participants to engage with the content. Prizes were given out to winners. At the end of the day a mock farmers market booth exercise was conducted. Participants were divided into two teams to look for both good and bad food safety examples. This helped reinforce many of the key learnings of the day. Participants were given tool boxes that contained many items that will be helpful when they returned home. This included a water test kit, farm hygiene signs, a food temperature thermometer, a freezer thermometer and other items. A flyer was distributed at the end that summarized key concepts. In addition a pocket card was provided. In addition a military veteranwho works in agriculture was hired to co-teach the workshop with an experienced food safety expert. Videos and photographs of veterans were embedded throughout the learning materials. No special efforts were made to recruit veterans with disabilities. It was unknown if the veterans who signed up would have any type of disabilities. Outcomes - The project taught three workshops under the pilot grant in different geographic areas of Georgia. A total of 36 veterans signed up for the workshops. They primary served in the U.S. Army (74%). Most had seen combat with 33% being post-911 veterans. Of the participants 86% reported having disabilities and mental health issues. All but two of those reported having multiple conditions (71% PTSD, 65% anxiety, 53% depression, 59% physical, 41% tinnitus and 35% hearing loss). They rated the following curricula design elements of the workshop on 5 point scale (strongly agree, agree undecided, disagree, strongly disagree). • Having a fellow veteran teach the class was effective in helping me learn (59% strongly agreed, 41% agreed). • The videos of veterans talking about food safety were effective in helping me learn (64% strongly agreed, 32% agreed, 5% undecided). • The discussions were effective in helping me learn (77% strongly agreed, 23% agreed). • The interactive exercises (i.e. farmers market booth) were effective in helping me learn (95% strongly agreed, 5% agreed). • The take home resource box will be useful in implementing food safety practices on my farm (95% strongly agreed, 5% agreed). They also rated the following learning objectives: • I understand how land that is used to grow produce can affect the safety of the product (68% strongly agreed, 32% agreed). • I understand the affect that water used on produce can have on the safety of the product (68% strongly agreed, 32% agreed). • I understand the safe use of manure in growing produce (59% strongly agreed, 36% agreed, 5% undecided) • I understand farm worker hygiene and best practices to keep produce safe (77% strongly agreed and 23% agreed). • I understand how animals may impact produce safety and possible management solutions (73% strongly agreed, 27% agreed). • I understand best practices during harvest and storage of produce to prevent contamination of the produce and growth of harmful bacteria (68% strongly agreed, 32% agreed). • I understand how to display and store my produce if selling at a farmers market (68% strongly agreed and 32% agreed). • I understand additional training and certification options that may be available to grow my business (73% strongly agreed and 27% agreed). • I understand what the Food Modernization Safety Act is and how it might impact small farms (62% strongly agreed and 38% agreed). 95% of the participants thought the workshop was the right length with 5% wishing it were longer. The participants were asked to share what they liked best about the workshop: • Great handouts, resources and examples. • Knowledgeable instructors who enjoy teaching the workshop. • The information on the farmers market display and post-harvest handling was very useful. All of the information will help us make proper food safety decisions on our farm. • Practical information and resources that we can use in the future. I look forward to other courses offered. • Copies of the slides and supplemental handouts/resources, lists and demonstration sites. • Having the PowerPoint printed was great. • Meeting other veterans, hands on training and the videos • The knowledge and learning new things. Meeting other farmers and like-minded people. • Lecture and hands on instruction. • I loved being around other veterans • The farm laws and rules to establish and grow produce to sell. • Organization and location was fantastic. Strong team management. Flow between presenters with efficient transition. Presenters were experts. Hands-on exercises and interactive learning. I wished I attended one of these a long time ago. • Teaching about the important use of testing water and where to go for water testing. • Variety of information provided the farm visit and the mock farmers market. I very much enjoyed the presentations. • Live walk through at the farm. The information was really great.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The project trained military veterans who reported living in Georgia and Alabama,The participants were new and existing farmers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
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?Three workshops are scheudled: 10/26/2017 (Watkinsville / North Georgia), 10/26/2017 (Tifton / South Georgia) and 12/7/2017 (West Point / Northwest Georgia). Follow-up technical assistance provided for participants.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT PHASE ADAPT FOOD SAFETY CURRICULA TO BE SENSITIVE TO MILITARY CULTURE ADAPT FOOD SAFETY CURRICULA TO ACCOMODA PRIMARY DISABILITY NEEDS OF VETERANS Background: Training veterans can presents unique challenges. These challenges include being sensitive to military culture on one hand while addressing the needs of a possible service?related disability on the other. Addressing both of these needs is critical for veteran learning success. Military Culture / Peer Support - One of the most effective tools to assist veterans is peer support. There is an importance of veterans' connecting with other veterans, which the research indicates may be vital for success when Veterans are in learning environments. Having a Veteran as instructor may be an effective strategy in reaching other Veterans. Disability / Use of Universal Design for Learning - Many of the veterans entering into agriculture also have a disability diagnosis as a direct result of their service. The pilot was designed on the premise that the rate of disability among veterans is fairly high (22%). Based on this there would be a need to design the curricula in a manner that would allow most users to retain the information. Using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) the content and activities were created. Examples of curricul adaptation/designincluded: - Content was broken down into smaller sections in which learning objectives were clearly stated before and after the presentation. Wherever possible content was simplified. Key principles were clearly illustrated. For instance water testing is an important component of food safety measures on the farm. Participants received an overview of the importance of water testing, possible causes of contamination and preventative steps in a classroom setting. They watched a demonstration outside at various water sources on the proper technique to take a test (surface and well). They were given a list of testing facilities in their area. They went home with a water testing kit. - Interactive PowerPoint slies were used that kept visual interest of participants. The slides often incorporated ways for participants to test their knowledge/understanding on different concepts. Slides also encouraged opportunities for audience feedback and participation. - Copies of the slides and supporting handouts were given to participants in a booklet. If the presenter referred to a particular handout a visual representation of the handout and page number was shown on the PowerPoint slide. This not only aided participants to find the materials, the physical activity of opening the booklet to find the article provided a 'mental shift' for participants. This simple action can often help individuals to reengage with the discussion. - A bingo game was conducted at the beginning of the day to encourage participants to engage with the content. Prizes were given out to winners. - At the end of the day a mock farmers market booth exercise was conducted. Participants were divided into two teams to look for both good and bad food safety examples. This helped reinforce many of the key learnings of the day. - Participants were given tool boxes that contained many items that will be helpful when they returned home. This included a water test kit, farm hygiene signs, a food temperature thermometer, a freezer thermometer and other items. - A flyer was distributed at the end that summarized key concepts. In addition a pocket card was provided (full size copies are appended). In addition a military veteran who works in agriculture was hired to co-teach the workshop with an experienced food safety expert. Videos and photographs of veterans were developed and embedded throughout the learning materials.
Publications
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