Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:RIS Staff: In the most recent period 2new ORIS staff have receieved trainings and certifications for their PSA Grower Certificate and 3 staff have recieved Train-the-Trainer certification. Fresh Start Farmers: Within this reporting period 25 farmers participated in PSA Training in English, 15 farmers participated in PSA trainings in both Kiyarwanda and English, and 20 market farmers participated in and passed our Food Saftey Risk Assessment. Changes/Problems:There were not major changes during this update period. Trainings are underway and policies and procedures for food safety are in development or being currently implemented. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?RIS Staff: In the most recent period 2new ORIS staff have receieved trainings and certifications for their PSA Grower Certificate and 3 staff have recieved Train-the-Trainer certification. Fresh Start Farmers: Within this reporting period 25 farmers participated in PSA Training in English, 15 farmers participated in PSA trainings in both Kiyarwanda and English, and 20 market farmers participated in and passed our Food Saftey Risk Assessment. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have conducted 2 PSA trainings, 2 Food Safety Mini Workshops, and a Safe Food Risk Assessment since the last period which havebeen open to participating farmers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have several plans and policies for the upcomming period. Within this time we hope to: Hold PSAand Train-The-Trainer Certificationfor new employees Develop a Recall Plan in event any food products need to be recalled Complete Pick Your Own core policies, procedures, and signage Update Farm Food Safety Plans Create farm-specific Food Safety Chats in WhatsApp Develop a Compost Safety Plan Complete the Boscawen Irrigation Water Mitigation Plan
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In addition to training and certification accomplishments, this period we upgraded our Food Safety Infrastructure. We upgraded on-farm wash/pack facilities with new and/or additional sinks, easier to sanitize drying racks, and replenished supplies such as soaps, scrubbers, paper towels, and sanitizer tablets. We also updated farm location specific Food Safety Plans that outlined policies and procedures to be followed by staff and farmers at each farm location. Staff and Farmers were updated on the policies and given training for wash/pack procedure at Dunbarton, Concord and Boscawen in May 2024. Staff reviewed procedures to clean, sanitizer and dry wash/pack surfaces.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:ORIS Staff: Throughout the reporting period, 8 ORIS staff have completed the PSA Grower Training and earned certificates. Furthermore, one staff member has received Trainer status. Fresh Start Farmers: So far, 26 beginning, low-resource, socially-disadvantaged farmers have been the target audience for our linguistically and culturally appropriate food safety TA. In the winter of 2023, training was module focused but the PSA curriculum was not yet used. Winter Workshops focused on farmer hygiene and handwashing, post harvest handling and wildlife management. Throughout the spring and summer of 2023, farmers were provided one-on-one and group TA utilizing onsite demonstrations. Changes/Problems:This past year the head of our FSOP actions, Jameson Smalls, left ORIS, leaving a gap in the primary communications and implementations for the program. It took some time to readjust, but now Tom McGee is heading the program. His preexisting relationships with the farmers and familiarity with ORIS operations has made for a smooth transition. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In March of 2024 we provided PSA training in English with a trainer from the University of New Hampshire. 25 farmers participated in this training. In April we followed this up with another training in both English and Kinyarwanda for an additional 15 farmers. In March we also held Food Safety Mini Workshops inKinyarwanda. Last year we had one staff member recieve Train-the-Trainer Certification. This enabled us to have three more staff members gain PSAGrower Certification this year, as well as two additional Train-the-Trainer Certifications. 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 plan to expand on our successes up to this point and further improve our policies. Specifically, we intend to ensure that all new hires recieve both PSA certification and Train-The-Trainer Certification for PSA. We will also develop PYO Core Policies and Procedures. We will make a Recall Plan, a Compost Safety Plan, an Irrigation Water Mitigation Plan for our Boscawen farm, and we will update our Farm Food Safety Plans as needed. In addition to the new and updated plans and trainings we are also going to createfarm-specific Food Safety Chats in WhatsApp. This will allow staff and farmers to interact more seemlessly and communicate updates on Food Safety as needed.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the past period we hae made several improvements to our Food Safety Plans and Outreach. In January and Febrary2024 we updated Food Safety Plans specific to each farm location to ensure staff and farmers knew all relevant policies and procedures. In May we conducted wash/pack procedure training. This covered cleaning and sanitizing wash and pack surfaces to ensure sanitary conditions for food shipping and distribution. We also updated our on-farm facilities with new and additional sinks, easier to sanitize drying racks, and replinished cleaning supplies including soaps, scrubbers, paper towels, and sanitizer tablets. We also performed Food Safety Risk Assessments with all 20 of our market farmers in June. We made passing this assessment a requirement to participate in market opportunities at our Fresh Start Farms, and all the farmers passed this assessment.
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