Progress 09/01/17 to 12/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached was small-scale Southeast Asian and Latino farmers in Fresno County. Most were vegetable farmers cultivating either diverse polycultures including Asian specialty vegetables or monocrops of squash, peppers, eggplant, or tomatoes. A total of 189 farmers attended food safety workshops and food safety presentations at additional workshops, and 59 farmers received one-on-one technical assistance. Food Safety Workshops: 1) USDA Harmonized GAP Audit, 04/25/18: 17 farmers (all Hispanic/Latino) 2) Food Safety and Pesticide Label Requirements, 12/05/18: 38 farmers (29 Asian, 9 Hispanic/Latino) 3) Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training for FSMA, 10/22/19 - 10/23/19: 43 farmers (40 Asian, 2 Hispanic/Latino, 1 African American) Food Safety Presentations at Workshops: 1) FSMA Requirements for Food Safety, 01/23/19: 31 farmers (5 Asian, 26 Hispanic/Latino) 2) Third Party Audit Requirements for Sales to Juice Processers, 02/20/19: 19 farmers (15 Asian, 4 Hispanic/Latino) 3) CDFA Letter for FSMA Inspections, 08/28/19: 41 farmers (30 Asian, 11 Hispanic/Latino) Changes/Problems:We found that despite extensive outreach to promote on-farm visits, risk assessments, and mock audits, there was low farmer interest and motivation to participate in these one-on-one activities. We have inferred that since FSMA inspections for small farms in California have not begun yet, small-scale farmers are focused instead on more immediate needs and challenges and tend to put off participating in food safety training activities due to time constraints. FSMA inspections of small farms by CDFA were originally scheduled to begin in 2019, but the timeline has been extended until 2021, reducing the sense of urgency for farmers to prepare for inspections. Also, our PSA workshop evaluations showed that the majority of the farmers attending were not receiving requests from buyers for food safety compliance: only 2.6% had been asked to prepare a written food safety plan, 7.7% had been asked for a third party audit, and 7.7% had been asked for food safety elements in other forms such as marketing orders or agreements. However, 23.1% reported that they had been asked by a buyer for PSA compliance with FSMA. We requested and received approval to complete alternative activities in addition to the already scheduled PSA training. These included assisting farmers with customized stamps for traceability programs, working with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) on their communication process for FSMA inspections of small farms, supporting food safety training on a farm-to-school project, and collecting information on Asian specialty vegetables and herbs that are rarely consumed raw. We also requested and received a no-cost extension until December 2019 in order to conduct the PSA training in November 2019, when the 2019 growing season had ended and farmers were less busy. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided several opportunities for training and professional development for the Community Education Specialist working on the project: Produce Safety Alliance Water Summit, Covington, KY, February 27-28, 2018 (attended via remote group session with food safety colleagues at UC Davis, CA) Produce Safety Alliance Train-the-Trainer course, Irvine, CA, August 28-29, 2018 FSMA Preventative Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) training, Reedley, CA, July 2018 Produce Safety Alliance Lead Trainer application submitted, September 2019 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Educational materials have been disseminated to farmers and partner agencies through our website and through individual visits and email contact. Results of the alternative contact process with CDFA for FSMA inspections will be disseminated through email, radio, web, and extension meetings once the process is finalized by CDFA. The preliminary list of "rarely consumed raw" crops was provided to community partners including the Asian Business Institute and Resource Center (ABIRC), the Community Alliance for Family Farmers (CAFF), and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) for policy communications with FDA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We conducted outreach in Hmong and Spanish promoting training and one-on-one services. Radio announcements were made on Michael Yang's UCCE radio show in Hmong and on Radio Bilingue in Spanish. We distributed flyers at our workshops, via email, and at food safety workshops of partner organizations (California Certified Organic Farmers, Fresno City College, College of the Sequoias, and Fresno State's Office of Community and Economic Development). We distributed flyers at an outreach booth at Fresno's Hmong New Year Celebration in 2018. Following workshops and outreach events, we contacted farmers by phone and email to follow up on previous activities and to promote on-farm visits for risk assessments, mock audits, and tailgate trainings. We conducted 3 food safety workshops, and 3 presentations on food safety topics at other workshops (Table 1, "Target Audience"), including a Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training with the Community Alliance for Family Farmers (CAFF). All workshops included translation in Hmong, Spanish, or both. The workshop on 4/25/18 in Spanish was with Custom Produce, a wholesale packing house. We also conducted walk-through risk assessments on 10 farms and 37 one-on-one consultations to provide farmers with recordkeeping templates, forms, food safety plan templates, and other resources. Five farmers completed food safety plans, and one passed a USDA Harmonized GAP audit. We assisted 12 farmers in ordering customized address stamps and ink pads for traceability following the PSA training. Also, we developed guidelines for post-harvest GAPs for small-scale farms drying moringa leaves, including the use of sanitizers in post-harvest wash water. We assisted a farm-to-school project by the Asian Business Institute and Resource Center (ABIRC) for small-scale Southeast Asian farmers to become vendors with the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD). This included a tour of a Southeast Asian vegetable farm with FUSD and taste testing of a Thai chili condiment developed by FUSD. We worked with FUSD's purchasing department to develop food safety criteria for farmers selling Southeast Asian produce. FUSD agreed to 1) limit purchases to produce that would be cooked, avoiding items consumed raw, and 2) accept training in GAPs provided by UCCE in lieu of a third-party audit. We began collecting information on Asian specialty vegetables that are rarely consumed raw, but are not on the current FDA list of rarely consumed raw crops. We complied a preliminary list that we submitted to partner organizations for discussion with the FDA. In June 2019, we organized a meeting of the "Food Safety Partners" group where representatives of several local and statewide organizations conducting food safety trainings met to discuss current resources, challenges, and opportunities to collaborate. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is implementing FSMA inspections in California. We communicated frequently with CDFA statewide directors and inspectors about the timeline for FSMA inspections for small-scale farms, requirements for farmers, and the process for contacting limited-English farmers. FSMA inspections for small farms were originally scheduled to begin in 2019, then in 2020, and then in 2021. We participated in mock inspections with CDFA to understand how the process would work. We invited CDFA food safety directors to our UC ANR Small Farms Workgroup meeting in Davis, CA in April 2019 to give an update on CDFA's roll-out of inspections for small farms and to discuss educating farmers before the inspections would begin. In December 2019, we met with CDFA to discuss their process for contacting limited-English farmers. Our concern was that farmers whose primary language is not English would have difficulty receiving a call from CDFA to schedule an inspection without prior notification. As a result, CDFA agreed to consider an alternative contact process with mailing of a paper letter and a response card indicating 1) preferred language and need for translation; and 2) contact information for an English-speaking family member to assist with scheduling and communication. In July 2019, small-scale farmers received letters from CDFA announcing the beginning of inspections with a form to complete stating their farm characteristics, income, crops, and whether they sold to wholesale or direct markets. We requested clarification from CDFA on how characteristics of diversified specialty Asian vegetable farms should be reported. At a workshop on 8/28/2019, we reviewed the letter and form with Hmong farmers and explained how to fill it out. We also assisted farmers with the form over the phone. We attended the Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety in Davis, CA, March 27-28, 2018 and the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WCREFS) in Portland, Oregon on May 15-16, 2019, where PI Dahlquist-Willard presented an update on project work. The Grower Training Course Evaluation was conducted following the PSA workshop. Of 43 participants, 39 completed a 6-page questionnaire with questions on workshop topics and demographic and farm data. For each of the 7 module topics, content and instructors were rated on a 1-5 Likert scale (Strongly Disagree=1; Disagree=2; Neither Agree nor Disagree=3; Agree=4; Strongly Agree=5). Demographics. Participants were 64.1% male and 33.3% female. All were over age 25, with 20.5% ages 26-40, 41% ages 41-55, 23.1% ages 55-65, and 12.8% age 66 or over (2.6% declined to state). The majority reported their race or ethnicity as Asian (66.7%), with 5.1% Hispanic/Latino, 2.6% Black/African American, and 23.1% Other (2.6% declined to state). A majority (69.2%) had never attended a GAPs or PSA training before. Only 12.8% reported participating in a third-party food safety audit in the past, and only 10.3% that a buyer had asked them for a third-party audit or a written food safety plan. Farms. Most farmers (84.6%) grew mixed vegetables. Others grew tree fruit (2.6%) and leafy greens (2.6%) (10.3% declined to report crops). The majority (69.2%) had 10 acres or less, 12.8% had 11-25 acres, 10.3% had 26-50 acres, 2.6% had 51-100 acres, and 2.6% had 101-200 acres. For average annual produce sales during the previous three years, 43.6% reported less than $25,000 and 43.6% from $25,001 - $250,000, with only 2.6% from $250,001 - $500,000 and 7.7% above $500,00. This means that many of these farmers could be exempt or qualified exempt from FSMA. Evaluation of workshop and instructors. The majority (97.4%) reported that the training was well-organized. For the 7 modules, from 87.2% - 94.9% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the instructor was effective at delivering the content, and from 84.6% - 92.3% agreed or strongly agreed that the instructor was able to answer questions (percentages reported as a range from individual modules). Also, 82.1% of participants reported that the level of information on FSMA provided was sufficient to guide them in implementing regulatory requirements (yes/no question). Knowledge gained. From 82.1% - 92.3% agreed or strongly agreed that the individual modules increased their knowledge of the module topic, and from 82.1% - 94.9% agreed or strongly agreed that they were confident they could implement the practices on their farms. Percentages for each module for these two criteria (increased knowledge and confidence, respectively were: 1) Introduction to Produce Safety (89.5%, 94.9%); 2) Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training (89.7%, 82.1%); 3) Soil Amendments (87.2%, 82.1%); 4) Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use (84.6%, 87.2%); 5-1) Production Water (84.6%, 87.2%); 5-2) Postharvest Water (82.1%, 84.6%); 6) Postharvest Handling and Sanitation (82.1%, 87.2%); and 7) How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan (92.3%, 87.2%).
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached was small-scale Southeast Asian and Latino farmers in Fresno County. Most were vegetable farmers cultivating either diverse polycultures including Asian specialty vegetables or monocrops of squash, peppers, eggplant, or tomatoes. Changes/Problems:Despite extensive outreach to promote on-farm visits, risk assessments, and mock audits, farmer interest and motivation to participate in these activities has been low. We have found that since FSMA inspections for small farms in California have not begun yet, small-scale farmers are focused instead on more immediate needs and challenges and tend to put off participating in food safety training activities due to time constraints. Due to the low number of farmers participating in these activities, we have proposed the alternative activities listed above, in addition to the already scheduled PSA training, and approved by email on 11/18/2019. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI Ruth Dahlquist-Willard and project staff Jacob Roberson attended the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WCREFS) in Portland, Oregon on May 15-16, 2019. 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?In the next reporting period, we will conduct the following activities: - Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) grower training in partnership with CAFF. The training will be in English with Hmong language instructional aids and discussion of each topic area to answer any questions following each training segment. An evaluation required by PSA will be conducted following the training. - Additional outreach via phone, email, radio, and flyers to promote one-on-one and small group training opportunities and farm visits. - Assisting small-scale farmers with obtaining customized date and farm address stamps for use in their traceability programs. - Working with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to develop an effective process for cross-cultural communication for scheduling FSMA inspections on small farms with limited-English, socially disadvantaged farmers. - Working with the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) and the Asian Business Institute and Resource Center (ABIRC) to develop food safety criteria for small-scale Southeast Asian farms selling produce to FUSD as part of a farm-to-school project. - Collecting information from Southeast Asian farmers on Asian specialty vegetables and herbs that are rarely consumed raw, but are not on the current FDA list of rarely consumed raw crops.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We conducted extensive outreach through bilingual radio announcements, flyers distributed at partner organization workshops, email, and phone calls to promote one-on-one services including on-farm risk visits for risk assessments, mock audits, and tailgate trainings. Radio announcements were made on the KBIF 900 UCCE radio show hosted by Michael Yang and 91.5 Radio Bilingue in Spanish. Flyers were distributed through partner groups also conducting food safety trainings including Fresno City College, College of the Sequoias, and the Fresno State Office of Community and Economic Development. Farmers were contacted individually by phone and email to follow up on previous activities and to promote tailgate trainings for employee hygiene and tool sanitation. We also staffed an outreach booth and distributed flyers at the annual Hmong New Year Celebration in Fresno from Dec. 26-31, 2018. We conducted a bilingual workshop in Hmong on Dec. 5, 2018 in collaboration with the Community Alliance for Family Farms (CAFF). Topics included FSMA compliance, use of sanitizers in produce wash water, handwashing and employee hygiene, and developing food safety plans. Additional bilingual presentations on food safety were conducted at other UCCE extension workshops. At a workshop in Spanish on regulatory compliance (Jan. 23, 2019), we gave a presentation on FSMA compliance. At a workshop in Hmong on Feb. 20, 2019, we invited the owner of a cold pressed juice processing facility to present on third party audit requirements for selling to food processors. During the current reporting period, we provided intensive on-on-one assistance to seven small-scale farmers on topics including: development of food safety plans, selection of sanitizers for produce wash water, on-farm risk assessments, and communication with buyers regarding food safety audit requirements. PI Ruth Dahlquist-Willard and Community Education Specialist Jacob Roberson attended the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WCREFS) in Portland, Oregon on May 15-16, 2019 to network and communicate with the Center and explore future partnerships. Dahlquist-Willard presented an update on project work in Fresno. We maintained a dialogue with statewide directors and inspectors at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) who will be implementing FSMA on-farm inspections for small farms beginning in 2020. In April 2019, we invited one of the CDFA directors for food safety to the UC ANR Small Farms Workgroup meeting to give an update on the roll-out of inspections for small farms and to communicate with UC ANR small farms advisors. In July 2019, CDFA mailed a letter to small-scale farmers announcing the beginning of inspections the following year and asking farmers to complete and return a form listing their farm characteristics, income, and crops. We requested clarification from CDFA on specific questions related to characteristics of diversified specialty Asian vegetable farms and how they should be reported. Also, at an extension meeting on Aug. 28, 2019, we reviewed the letter and response form with Hmong farmers and explained how to fill out the form. An additional activity beyond the original scope of the grant developed in partnership with the Asian Business Institute and Resource Center (ABIRC). ABIRC is currently conducting a farm-to-school project to connect the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) with small-scale Southeast Asian farmers to supply the school district meal program with specialty vegetables. We assisted in discussions with FUSD regarding their liability and food safety requirements for these farmers to sell to the district, and helped formulate a category for compliance with GAPs that was satisfactory for the school district to purchase produce. We participated in several joint events for this program including a tour of a Southeast Asian vegetable farm with FUSD and ABIRC and a taste testing of a Thai chili condiment developed by FUSD with produce from a Southeast Asian farm. These activities will assist our grower clientele in accessing the school district as a buyer for their produce.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached was small-scale farmers in Fresno County. Most were vegetable farmers cultivating either diverse polycultures including Asian specialty vegetables or monocrops of squash, peppers, eggplant, or tomatoes. 63 farmers were reached through workshops and/or individual contacts. The demographic breakdown is as follows: Asian - 21 Latino - 29 African-American - 5 Caucasian - 8 Changes/Problems:We have found that many small-scale vegetable growers selling to wholesale packing houses are not highly motivated to comply with FSMA requirements, including development of a food safety plan. We have identified two possible reasons for this: 1) inspections by CDFA food safety inspectors have not yet begun for small farms, and 2) many packing houses in the area do not require the farms who sell to them to obtain third-party audit certification or document FSMA compliance. We expect that motivation will increase as more packing houses begin to require either third-party audits or FSMA compliance. In the beginning of this project, we identified Sunnyside Packing as our primary partner for assistance to wholesale packing houses. We have formed relationships with two additional packing houses, Custom Produce and KB Farms. Due to changes in staff at Sunnyside Packing, our primary partners for trainings will be the other two packing houses, although we will continue to work with Sunnyside as well. We had planned for one of our workshops to be a PSA approved food safety training. We would like to conduct this training later in 2019 so that there is time for CDFA inspections to begin and increase the motivation among growers to obtain their PSA training. We plan to request a no cost extension until December 2019 in order to conduct the PSA training in November 2019, when the 2019 growing season has ended and farmers are less busy, and when inspections for small farms will either have begun or be about to begin. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Community Education Specialist Jacob Roberson has attended two trainings. The Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety provided funding for him to attend the Produce Safety Alliance Train-the-Trainer course in Irvine, CA on August 28-29, 2018. He also attended a FSMA Preventative Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) training hosted by Reedley College and the Safe Food Alliance in July 2018. 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?Another food safety workshop for small-scale farmers in collaboration with the Community Alliance for Family Farms (CAFF) will be held in Fresno in early December with Hmong and Spanish translation. The workshop will include information on the use of sanitizers in post-harvest wash water as well as general information and updates on FSMA requirements. Attendees will be trained on the use of recordkeeping templates. Also, a FSPCA PCHF training for produce aggregators will be conducted with KB Farms in 2019, with other packing houses invited to participate. We plan to conduct a PSA approved training for growers in 2019. Three project staff (Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Michael Yang, and Jacob Roberson) have completed the PSA Train-the Trainer course, and Kali Fereisel of CAFF will be the lead trainer. The workshop will be conducted using the PSA approved material in English with supplemental explanations in Hmong. The presentation of required material may be spread out over more than one day to accommodate discussion of the material in Hmong following presentations in English. Project staff will continue to follow up with contacts from workshops and other extension work to visit farms for one-on-one risk assessments, walk-throughs, trainings, and development of food safety plans. These visits and trainings will be scheduled for January - May 2019. Food safety plans for farms developing value-added products will be developed to comply with either the Cottage Foods Act or the CDFA Small Farms Food Safety Guidelines. All record-keeping templates will be translated into both Spanish and Hmong. The food safety website will be launched in January 2019 and will include all templates in all languages, and all other educational resources developed. We are also developing a checklist of templates required for FSMA, the CDFA small farms guidelines, and the USDA Harmonized GAPs audit. Additional materials such as posters and handouts will also be developed.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We conducted one workshop for Spanish-speaking farmers on FSMA and third-party audit requirements. Follow-up outreach was conducted with farmers attending this workshop for development of food safety plans. We have also conducted outreach through radio broadcasting in Hmong and follow up phone calls with attendees from both our own previous workshops and additional food safety workshops conducted by partner organizations such as California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). From these contacts, we conducted walk-through risk assessments on 10 farms and conducted 15 one-on-one consultations to provide farmers with recordkeeping templates, forms, food safety plan templates, and other resources. Two project staff (Dahlquist-Willard and Roberson) attended the Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety in Davis, CA, March 27-28, 2018 to communicate and network with the WRCEFS and explore opportunities for partnerships. To ensure that we are providing accurate and current information to small-scale farmers, we have reached out to statewide directors and inspectors at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) who will be implementing FSMA on-farm inspections. We are in communication with them regarding the roll-out of FSMA inspections for small farms in 2019-2020. Project staff have also participated in mock inspections with CDFA to prepare for the roll-out. We have developed 20 templates for small-scale farms to use in record-keeping to support FSMA and third-party audit compliance. Nine of these templates are available in both English and Spanish, and the rest are pending translation. We have also begun developing a list of food safety terminology in Hmong for use in translation. We have developed a "Food Safety for Small Farms" website where templates, forms, and other relevant information will be posted. The website is being reviewed internally and is scheduled to launch in January 2019. We have developed a set of post-harvest good agricultural practices (GAPs) for small-scale moringa farms. Many Hmong and Filipino farmers grow small amounts of moringa for sale at farmers markets or to wholesale buyers, and we are currently involved in a project funded by a Specialty Crop Block Grant through the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to assist these farmers in drying moringa to produce dried leaves or powder as a value-added product. While that project is focused mainly on marketing, we have found that compliance with food safety requirements is essential in order for farmers to market their value-added products. We worked with Kali Fereisel at CAFF as well as food safety faculty at UC Davis, Erin DiCaprio and Linda Harris, to develop a set of GAPs appropriate for harvesting, washing, and drying moringa leaves. This included visiting a moringa farm for a risk assessment with Dr. DiCaprio and developing guidelines for the use of sanitizing chemicals during the washing process. The workshop we conducted for Spanish-speaking farmers was in collaboration with Custom Produce, a wholesale buyer that is attempting to build relationships with Latino farmers growing vegetable crops such as squash and peppers. In order for these farmers to sell to Custom Produce, a third-party audit is required. We have also conducted outreach with KB Farms, a local packing house owned by a Southeast Asian farming family.
Publications
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