Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience: New Entry's farmer participants are from all over the world (Cambodia, Cameroon, Haiti, Mexico, Bangladesh, and the USA) and include socially disadvantaged, underserved, and limited resource producers. New Entry's target audience are primarily aspiring and prospective farmers, start-up and beginning farmers, and establishing farmers in their first ten years of operations. Most are farming or want to farm on small acreage near peri-urban or suburban communities. On average, approximately 50% of beginning farmers participating in our programs are economically disadvantaged; 52% of participants are women, and 38% are immigrants and refugees. Many are veterans. All are small scale: our specialty crop producers mostly farming less than 5 acres. Most producers are leasing, licensing, or renting small acreage close to communities of Greater Boston, Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex County where farmland is rare and costly, making it imperative to have strong, direct market connections and a solid farm business strategy to succeed. New Entry efforts are specifically designed to serve "Historically Underserved" groups as defined by the USDA, aligning with our mission to cultivate the next generation of farmers to produce food that is nutritious, culturally connected and accessible to all individuals. During the reporting period, we directly engaged 40 beginning and small-scale farmers, including incubator participants and graduates who are establishing their own agricultural enterprises. Our audience included 38% immigrants, and our racial distribution reflected significant outreach to socially disadvantaged groups, with 17% identifying as Black or African American and 9% as Hispanic or Latino. We also prioritized veteran inclusion, with 4% of participants identifying as veterans. Additionally, we supported limited-resource farmers by ensuring our programs were accessible to those facing financial constraints. This approach allowed us to serve our communities effectively, with 80% of our produce going directly to food access programs, including senior centers, food pantries, farm-to-school initiatives, and families participating in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. By connecting our farmers with these essential community programs, we not only addressed local food security needs but also strengthened local economies, ensuring that the benefits of sustainable agriculture extended throughout the community. Changes/Problems: Consulting Contract Delays for Technical Assistance: Our primary consultant for this project (Brian Moriano) accepted other employment between applying for the FSOP project and the awarded date. This job kept him from having time to do work with the targeted group of immigrant farmers. There has been some confusion about the farmers leases on the shared farm site as well, which prevented us from getting too far into the work. Ms. Round (New Entry Technical Assistance Manager) began preliminary work with farmers to identify their needs and the barriers to creating food safety plans. Mr. Mariano's employment situation changed and the lease situation was resolved, so we were finally able to proceed with the work, but this was delayed by a full year. Instead of doing work over two years, Brian will be condensing the timeline to complete the work in less than one year. Delayed timing in offering Food Safety workshops for writing a food safety plan. After speaking with local farmers who are interested in creating a food safety plan, they expressed that they have a lot of work to wrap up between Thanksgiving and the New Year. They are at a scale where they want to have a food safety plan, but are busy until January. They are working with reduced staff, as much of their staff is seasonal and leaves the farm around this time. Because of the timing, we are pushing the planned fall 2024 workshops to January 2025, when they have more time to dedicate to writing food safety plans. Small-scale Farmer Audience: Many of the farmers we work with are exempt from having to meet CQP food safety standards because of their size/revenue. This disincentivizes them from getting CQP or GAPS certification. While many of them agree that food safety is important, developing a written food safety plan is not high on their priority list. We are tailoring our approach to incentivize farmers to perform mock audits, write food safety plans, and become CQP certified in a several different and creative ways to encourage compliance, this includes: Explaining the benefits to staff and training their staff: Having a written standard helps keep everyone on the same page and formalizes food safe practices. Farm employees actually enjoy having a document that lays out what they need to be doing. Opening up new wholesale markets: Since CSA participation is declining at many farms, opening new market channels to wholesale opportunities that can take large quantities of one type of produce has become more appealing to some producers. These new clients typically require CQP certification. Addressing food insecurity: Much of the produce that the Food Hub buys is distributed to Council on Aging sites, food pantries and schools. All of these serve vulnerable populations which increase the importance of food safety practices. Emphasizing these important market channels and the necessity for food safe practices may encourage farmers to develop their plans. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Four New Entry staff will take the PSA training along with uncertified incubator farmers and food hub farmers in Spring 2025. Incoming graduate student interns will also receive education and certifications in produce safety by completing PSA Training that New Entry will offer this spring. New Entry staff also participated in the annual NECAFS and National Food Safety Director's Meetings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results have been disseminated to communities of interest through multiple channels to ensure wide accessibility. New Entry produces two monthly newsletters: one for a general audience (9,902 subscribers) highlighting food hub progress, and another targeted at farmers (2,976 recipients) focusing on available resources for growth. We also send weekly updates to our food hub customers, informing them about the origins of the produce we provide and key food safety practices. We regularly share updates via social media platforms, including Facebook (5,000+ followers), Instagram (2,743 followers), and LinkedIn (500+ followers), as well as through our YouTube channel (613 subscribers). Additionally, we directly engage with communities by hosting workshops, information sessions, and participating in agricultural conferences, community events, and networking engagements. Joining events like the Massachusetts Agriculture in Action Expo and Ag Day at the State House, provided opportunities to connect with agricultural stakeholders and discuss important food safety issues within the sector. From a farm-to-institution perspective, our collaboration with local organizations and educational institutions, such as public-school cafeterias, aiming to increase the use of locally grown produce in school meals, helped strengthen connections between our farmers and institutions across the North Shore and Greater Boston. These partnerships enabled us to expand our outreach and promote sustainable farming practices. We actively engaged students and local community members through farm tours and educational events, offering hands-on learning opportunities. Additionally, our participation in bimonthly engagements organized by the Farm to Institution New England (FINE) network further supports these efforts. Through our new Mobile Market initiative, New Entry supported underserved farmers by creating new direct-sale opportunities. Our stops included communities in Beverly, Lynn, Revere, and Medford. These combined efforts ensure our work reaches a diverse group of stakeholders, from farmers to local communities and institutions. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? New Entry's has scheduled a PSA Training for Spring 2025 that targets beginning farmers in our local network. In addition, in January and February of 2025, with the support of MDAR, New Entry will offer a two-part webinar on Food Safety Plans that is designed to increase food safety skills and knowledge for at least 30 new and beginning specialty crop farmers. On an ongoing basis, New Entry staff continues to provides one-on-one technical assistance to incubator farmers and small-scale growers who sell produce to the food hub. Support Underserved Producers with TA to Develop Food Safety Plans: Over the next reporting period, staff will be meeting monthly with our Food Safety Consultant to address any needs he has in supporting underserved immigrant farmers to develop food safety plans. We will coordinate needed translation services as needed for these farmers in coordination with the consultant. We will also train these farmers on setting up and baiting a 3D deer fence for wildlife exclusion in growing areas. Host PSA (Produce Safety Alliance) training in Spring 2025: Four New Entry staff will take the PSA training along with uncertified incubator farmers and food hub farmers. We will upload the "writing a food safety plan" workshop to Youtube to reach farmers who are unable to attend the training. Ongoing Food Safety Education: We will educate up to 80 farmers in our winter Farm Business Planning Courses, Crop Production Courses, and Practicum in Sustainble Agriculture about food safety requirements and practices. We will continue to provide 1-1 technical assistance with incubator farmers, graduates, and food hub farmers as needed regarding food safety best practices and compliance. We will also educate all incubator farmers on wash station protocols in March-June 2025. Conduct On-Farm Risk Assessments: We will coordinate 3-5 additional risk assessments (mock audits) with farmers selling to the food hub.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Obj1: With PSA Lead Trainer and UMass Extension Educator, New Entry will host and offer an 8-hour Produce Safety Grower Training in March 2025. This training will target small-scale incubator farmers, food hub vendors, and farmers in our local beginning farmer network. For context, when New Entry offered this training in May 2022 and 2023, 24 growers attended this 8-hour training and received PSA certification and in 2023, 11 growers and 10 New Entry interns and staff received PSA Certification. In 2024, 4 additional farmers who sell regularly to the food hub provided verification of their PSA certifications completed in other venues. Obj2: With the support of MDAR, we have been developing a two-part webinar on creating and implementing farm food safety plans. This series is designed to guide farmers through the process of creating a customized food safety plan that meets industry standards and regulatory requirements. The aim is for farmers to gain understanding of food safety regulations, risk assessment, preventive controls, standard operating procedures (SOPs), record-keeping and emergency procedures. It is aimed at farmers, farm managers, and agricultural professionals responsible for on-farm food safety. Part One is titled "Developing a Comprehensive Food Safety Plan for Your Farm." In this webinar, we will instruct farmers on how to create a food safety plan; explain the CQP certification process; introduce farmers to the MDAR representative who facilitates the certification and the audits; and explore the benefits of CQP certification for expanding market channels. Part Two is titled "Refining Your Food Safety Plan: A Feedback Session." The format will be a group feedback session where people share the food safety plans they have worked on and receive feedback for improvements. New Entry staff will also offer TA before and after the workshops to assist farmers in creating the plans. Obj3. New Entry staff provides technical assistance (TA) to incubator farmers and small-scale growers who sell produce to the Food Hub. In the TA provided, we communicated post-harvest handling and wash/pack protocols to ensure food safety, and emphasized the importance of clear and complete labeling and accurate invoicing for traceability. To make information accessible, New Entry staff used all available channels of communication (including in-person, text, phone calls and emails). During the reporting period 38.75 hours of TA were provided to 22 farmers in topics related to food safety visits, risk assessments, referral to MDAR - CQP program, traceability, records to keep, and food safety documentation. Obj4. New Entry staff conducted 8 on-farm risk-assessments (mock audits); educated 38 attendees of the Crop Production Course on FSMA, the Produce Safety Rule and the CQP certification process; and introduced food safety concepts to 16 participants through our Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture. Staff also supported farmers to apply for and receive a grant to fund improvements infrastructure needed to address food safety risks. Risk Assessments: In August 2024, New Entry Farm Manager (Leah Jurman), conducted risk-assessments with 6 farms selling to New Entry's Food Hub and 2 additional local small farms. Assessments provided farmers with step-by-step review of food safety risks on their farm with a trained New Entry staff member and flagged issues that need attention. Post-visit, a list of action steps for meeting CQP requirements was generated by the farmer and staff member and a follow-up meeting scheduled. The assessments cover areas addressed in a CQP audit including risks associated with worker health and hygiene; soil amendments; wildlife and domestic animals; water; equipment; postharvest handling; traceability; etc. The risk assessment serves to demystify the CQP audit process while providing tangible steps for improvement to prepare the farmer for certification. Via discussions with farmers during the risk assessment visits, record keeping was a major barrier to certification or equivalence with reasons ranging from time management to technology literacy. The other major barrier is lack of on-farm infrastructure and lack of capital to improve infrastructure. Many growers are already operating low risk farms and are thoughtful about how their actions could impact food safety. New Entry staff continuously offers technical assistance for record keeping and will continue to support farmers to improve their record keeping skills and practices. CQP & PSR Education: We also added content related to food safety to both Spring and Summer sessions of our Crop Production Course. The improved Food Safety Module includes a Food Safety Checklist and a series of new food safety videos including: "Wash Station Setup and Flow", "Cleaning vs. Sanitizing", "Food Handling", and "Covered vs. Uncovered Produce." In addition, our Incubator Farm Manager provided a food safety presentation to each iteration of the class (38 course participants total) to discuss the Produce Safety Rule and gave advice on creating a food safety plan and generating practical standard operating procedures on the farm. The aim, in addition to educating participants about PSR and CQP, was to try to make food safety audits less intimidating and to support the farmers to focus on assessing, reducing and mitigating risks. Finally, food safety concepts were introduced during the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture hands-on course during the summer of 2024. During the 10-week course, a module dedicated to post harvest handling was presented to 16 practicum participants. Additional resources were also shared on the online course platform to allow participants to dive deeper into these concepts. Infrastructure Improvements & On-Farm Education to Address Food Safety Risks in Dracut, MA:New Entry's Technical Assistance Manager supported Dracut farmers to make improvements to infrastructure and on-farm practices to decrease food safety risk. She supported two farmers to complete a mini-grant application to improve food safety. The mini-grant funded a 3-D deer fence to exclude potential wildlife contamination in their fields, as well as increase produce yields. Once grant funds are received, New Entry staff will support the farmers to install the fencing and provide guidance on how to bait the fencing for deer to train them to respect the fence. In addition, she trained 6 farmers on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use of their shared handwashing station and collaborated with New Entry Food Hub staff to provide feedback on produce quality and post-harvest handling for this same group of farmers. She created a produce feedback log to use in the food hub to log produce quality and potential food safety issues in order to identify, document and address food safety risks on an ongoing basis. New Entry staff worked with the farmers to determine additional assistance needed for CQP compliance Obj5. In January 2024, New Entry Farm Manager presented our risk-assessment strategies at a FIELD network webinar in collaboration with ALBA. In October 2024, New Entry Food Hub Manager presented on risk-assessments, on-farm DIY infrastructure projects and New Entry's Food Safety Guide at the NECAFS Project Managers webinar. To increase staff capacity for CQP certification support, New Entry Technical Assistance Manager shadowed our Farm Manger while conducting on-farm risk assessments. This staff is now trained on how to prepare farmers for CQP certification which doubles our staff capacity for conducting these assessments. New Entry staff members with PSA Train-the-Trainers Certification will lead the next PSA Training in March 2025. This training aims to certify food hub farmers that have not yet completed PSA along with 4 new staff members.
Publications
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