Recipient Organization
TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
TUSKEGEE,AL 36088
Performing Department
Col. of Ag., Env., and Nutr Sc
Non Technical Summary
This Community Outreach Project will develop and pilot produce food safety Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) compliance education and outreach materials suitable for small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. The objectives are to:(1) Survey, and adapt where necessary, existing and released "in-development" produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education and outreach materials suitable for the targeted farmers for large-group trainings and on-farm demonstrations;(2) Provide produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance in-service, "Train-the-Trainer" training to GAP-certified training farmers and demonstration leader farmers, and;(3) Pilot the adapted produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education and outreach materials at large group trainings and on-farm demonstrations with the targeted farmers.The expected deliverables are a set of education and outreach materials and on-farm demonstration modules suitable for small and socially-disadvantaged farmers and adaptable to other farmer audiences. These deliverables and the related outputs and outcomes will be reported to the Southern Regional Center through regular communications and annual visits.This project is relevant to the Food Safety Outreach Program in addressing NIFA strategic goal 1.6 to "reduce the incidence of food-borne illness and provide a safer food supply," and USDA Action Plan Goal 6, Strategy 5 to "enhance existing partnerships with land-grant universities and other educational organizations to identify and assist minority producers, beginning farmers, and women producers and remove program barriers to participation."
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
This Community Outreach Project will develop and pilot produce food safety Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) compliance education and outreach materials suitable for small and socially-disadvantaged farmers.The objectives are to:(1) Survey, and adapt where necessary, existing and released "in-development" produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education and outreach materials suitable for the targeted farmers for large-group trainings and on-farm demonstrations;(2) Provide produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance in-service, "Train-the-Trainer" training to GAP-certified training farmers and demonstration leader farmers, and;(3) Pilot the adapted produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education and outreach materials at large group trainings and on-farm demonstrations with the targeted farmers.
Project Methods
MethodsStakeholder involvement in problem identification, planning, implementation and evaluation.As stated, Tuskegee University has been working with a group of small and socially-disadvantaged farmers to on an initiative to supply produce commercially, an effort which necessitated establishing a rigorous food safety education and outreach program. The farmers who have obtained GAP-certification and have opted to continue with the initiative have become leaders and mentors in their communities as to food safety on farms. Several of them host food safety trainings in their community with the help of the state's Extension services. These were the farmers who were convened in 2016. At the meeting, the future needs for training were discussed, including changes, if any, needed to assure FSMA compliance.As part of the training planned in this project, there will be a series of on-farm demonstrations that will give hands-on training on several food safety issues. These demonstrations will be hosted by a number of these GAP-certified farmers, at their operations, with the assistance of the PD. Many of the farmers what were trained over the years have valued the experiential learning exercises, such as on-farm mock audits, that we have occasionally held, and this component gives us the opportunity to incorporate this feature into our revised training.Techniques to be employed in this project, including their feasibility and rationale.a. Objective 1. Survey, and adapt where necessary, existing and released "in-development" produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education and outreach materials suitable for the targeted farmers for large group trainings and on-farm demonstrationsThere are a number of produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education materials--printed, video, and online format--that are currently available or will soon be released. Also, some materials may otherwise be conditionally pre-released for evaluation through this program. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some USDA agencies, centers such as the International Food Protection Training Institute, National GAP Program at Cornell University/Produce Safety Alliance, Regional Coordinating Centers, Agriculture Law Education Initiative, Land Grant Universities, and others have or are currently working on materials.Using our existing network of contacts, along with those we will gain through the project, we will survey these materials to develop a training program for food safety GAP and FSMA compliance suitable for small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. This survey will be guided by our Advisory Committee and project personnel. The surveyed materials will be adapted, if necessary, for the target audience. The adapting of materials might not entail an actual change in the materials, but may be a variation of the emphasis placed on certain topics in a manner that would be appropriate for the audience. The adapted materials will be reviewed by the Advisory Committee and, after any revisions, the materials will be submitted to the Regional Center.b. Objective 2. Provide produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance in-service, "Train-the-Trainer" training to GAP-certified training farmers and demonstration leader farmersThe planned large group and demonstration trainings will be conducted by Training Farmers and Demonstration Leader Farmers along with the PD, aided by student assistants. These Training Farmers and Demonstration Leader Farmers will be trained in two-day in-service, "Train-the-Trainer" training. This training may be conducted by staff from the Produce Safety Alliance, such as our Regional Extension Associate, or by other qualified professionals. The goal of the training is to prepare these farmers with a broader background and understanding of produce food safety and with FSMA compliance.These trainings will take place in the first quarters of both years, in advance of the other larger trainings. These trainings will be evaluated by the participants and revisions will be made for the offering of the training in the second year. In addition, the training is intended to prepare the farmers for USDA AMS GAP-certification audits, which will be held in the third quarters of both years. Their having gone through an actual audit will be integral to their capability to train and demonstrate produce food safety. The results of the training and audits will be submitted to the Regional Center.c. Objective 3. Pilot the adapted produce food safety GAP and FSMA compliance education and outreach materials at large group trainings and on-farm demonstrations with... farmers.The two large group trainings will be held in Year 2, Quarters 1 and 2. They will be held as pre-conferences or extended sessions as part of the Professional Agriculture Workers Conference in early December and the Farmers Conference in mid-February. These are conferences that draw not only a state, but a national audience. It is intended that these sessions, which may be between three and six hours, depending on scheduling, are to be complemented by the on-farm demonstrations. However, these training will be designed to be able to stand alone as a thorough overview of food safety GAP and FSMA compliance. The Training Farmers will be involved in all aspects of the planning and organizing of these large group trainings, determining the agenda and selecting the materials to be used. The PD will conduct much of the training with the assistance of the Training Farmers and students.The on-farm demonstrations are designed to complement the large group trainings, and provide hands-on experiential learning on food safety GAP and FSMA compliance. The PD will work closely with the Demonstration Leader Farmers to organize the demonstration modules, leveraging any materials from the survey to assist with the planning. There will be four sites for these trainings; each will provide three demonstrations on selected topics (Table 2). It is expected that each site will host at least three demonstrations to allow as many farmers as possible to attend. The Demonstration Leader Farmers will work with the PD to schedule the demonstrations. Each site will have a different focus that is specific to the type of farm or facility and the strength of that farmer in maintaining compliance in that area. The Demonstration Leader Farmer will conduct the demonstration, and the PD will be present to assist as necessary.These on-farm demonstration will take place in Year 2, Quarter 2, while the target farmers are more likely to be available, and will continue into Quarter 2 (April) only if necessary. At both the large group trainings and the on-farm demonstration, the PD and student will conduct evaluations of the program. These evaluations will be analyzed by the PD, with help from the students, and the results will be shared with the Advisory Committee for their input, before being reported to the Regional Center. All materials generated and evaluation results will be submitted to the Regional Center.?