Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) enables the FDA to better protect public health by strengthening the food safety system. It creates more and better opportunities for the FDA to focus on preventing food safety problems rather than relying primarily on reacting to problems after they occur. From a farming perspective, the changes enacted and required by FSMA have created some challenges, especially for smaller farmers and farms operated by historically under-served populations. The resource disparities between small farming operations and large operations can be quite vast, and some of the changes in requirements enacted by FSMA to access robust, diverse, and lucrative end-markets require financial resources and outlays that are typically beyond the reach or feasibility of many small farmers.Creating no and low-cost opportunities to attain food safety education training and access technological platforms that open up additional markets for increased revenue and profits is crucial to leveling the FSMA playing field for small farmers. It has been proven that increasing food safety educational opportunities and developing a food safety plan(s) can decrease the disparate impacts of FSMA compliance costs between large farmers and small farmers by increasing market access for food safety-trained farms and boosting their revenue generation.OurSpace World and Good Earth Therapy's project - De-mystifying FSMA: Creating a Food Safety Education and Training Program to Increase Market Access for Black Producers and Chefs in the Mid-Atlantic US will offer training, education, and access to a trackand trace technology platformthat seeks to reduce these disparities and ensure the profitability and success of small farming operations in the DMV-area and - with scale - the Mid-Atlantic region and country at large. The project team will meet the goals of the Food Safety Outreach Program by creating (1) chef-led food safety training and education processes for farmers and (2) build and implement technology that helps small farmers adhere to section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food Traceability Final Rule, by tracking and tracing produce from seed to table.These efforts will be accomplished through a multi-state effort in the DC, Maryland, Virginia (DMV) region of the United States, working with a network of all-Black chefs, farmers, and technology/service providers.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The 2 main goals & objectives of this project are to:1)INCREASE ACCESS TO CULINARY MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR DMV & MID-ATLANTIC-BASED SMALL FARMERSObjective 1a: Educate DMV-based farmers on food safety protocols required/desired by culinary professionalsObjective 1b: Provide training and infrastructure that allow DMV-based farmers to conduct basic processing required/desired by culinary professionals2) INCREASE ACCESS TO WHOLESALE AND INSTITUTIONAL MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR DMV & MID-ATLANTIC-BASED SMALL FARMERSObjective 2a: Build systems that enable small farmers to capture data required to fulfill FSMA requirements for wholesale and institutional market sales (Track and Trace)Objective 2b: Create processes via collaborative strategic actions that allow small farmers to fulfill FSMA requirements for wholesale and institutional market sales (GroupGAP)OurSpace World's and Good Earth Therapy's FSOP Community Outreach Project -- De-mystifying FSMA: Creating a Food Safety Education and Training Program to Increase Market Access for Black Producers and Chefs in the Mid-Atlantic US -- will meet these goals by creating (1) chef-led food safety training and education processes for farmers and (2) building and implementing technology that helps small farmers adhere to section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food Traceability Final Rule, by tracking and tracing produce from seed to table.
Project Methods
Project efforts will be grouped into 3 main areas:1: The project team will organize 4-5 farmer cohorts, each consisting of 6-10 DMV-based small farmers (24-50 total farmers)Each farmer cohort will engage in a series of food safety education and training class + ServSafe certification trainings/testsWe will utilize 3-4 different certified commercial kitchen sites in the larger DMV area to conduct classes and host cohortsWe will work withlocal black chefs and food safety/ServSafe educators to adapt and deliver food safety curriculum and ServSafe Food Handler and Food Manager certification proctoring2: The project team will contract and collaborate with a software developer to create and test a FSMA section 204-compliant "Track and Trace" software application platform that gathers/stores/verifies farm production data on the blockchain, adheres to the FSMA Food Traceability List (FTL), and identifies and defines Key Data Elements (KDEs) for use in Critical Tracking Events (CTEs)3: The project team will organize a small farmer cohort in the DMV-area to pilot the developed "Track and Trace" software application platform in real-time and real growing conditionsThe team will coordinate this farmer cohort and work with food safety education professionals to develop a food safety plan for GroupGAP application as well as a uniform/singular quality control system/protocolsChanges in audience knowledge and condition will be measured using interviews, feedback & evaluation forms, and surveys of farmers and other project stakeholders. Data related to the "Track and Trace" (traceability rule pilot) Program will be collected through developed software applications created by KRPM LLC and developed food safety plans with farmers and educators/trainers.