Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety (NECAFS) was established in 2016 and established a regional structure for food safety communication and collaboration, building regional trainer capacity and competency, developing supplemental materials and delivering educational events, evaluating performance, and sustaining good work. This proposal outlines a plan to continue the current work of NECAFS with the addition of new activities based on stakeholder feedback and the evolving needs of our target audience. The long-term goal of NECAFS is to provide a sustainable, comprehensive food safety training, education, and technical assistance program that assists small and mid-sized food producers and processors with FSMA compliance. Our overall objective is to sustain and nurture our established network foundation that supports a national food safety system that increases the understanding and adoption of established food safety standards, guidance, and protocols for those affected by FSMA. We will also expand NECAFS activities by taking a more proactive approach in building capacity, competency, and collaboration among the region's educators and regulators by facilitating a continuous improvement framework to ensure consistency and uniforimity in the understanding of new and existing regional food safety practices. Our target audience includes owners and operators of small- and mid-sized produce farms, beginning farmers, socially-disadvantaged farmers, small processors, or small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers in the Northeast region.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
This project outlines a plan to continue the current work of NECAFS with the addition of new activities based on stakeholder feedback and the evolving needs of our target audience. The long-term goal of NECAFS is to provide a sustainable, comprehensive food safety training, education, and technical assistance program that assists small- and mid-sized food producers and processors with FSMA compliance. Our overall objective is to sustain and nurture our established network foundation that supports a national food safety system that increases the understanding and adoption of established food safety standards, guidance, and protocols for those affected by FSMA. Our target audience includes owners and operators of small- and mid-sized produce farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, or small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers in the Northeast region. Our proposal team is led by a collaborative group of co-investigators who provide disciplinary (produce, process, and infrastructure) and geographic diversity, and maintains leadership continuity since it is the same group of co-investigators from the existing NECAFS structure.We will achieve these goals by pursuing the following objectives:Sustain and Nurture Established Network Foundation and Successful ProgrammingBuild Capacity, Competency and CollaborationDevelop and Deliver Educational ProgramsNational Engagement and CollaborationEvaluate and Assess Progress and ImpactSustain Good Work
Project Methods
Regionally, the approach is to sustain and nurture NECAFS established network foundation. We will continue to build regional capacity and competency by extending the Training Support Stipend Program, which funds the development of trainers capable of delivering the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA), Sprout Safety Alliance (SSA) and Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) curricula. Additionally, we will provide financial support for the delivery of educational programming, especially in areas underserved or with hard-to-reach audiences, and especially as the new PC curriculum is released and the PSA's resources are declining. It is through these trainings that the pre- and post-tests will be administered, and the resulting data will be aggregated into regional and national evaluation. We will also continue to facilitate regional communication and collaboration through the eNewsletter, education and information sharing webinars, the NECAFS Annual Conference and Meeting, workgroups, and the NECAFS website. Evaluations from our stakeholders indicated that these activities are highly valued, with 92% of respondents stating that networking and communication, as well as sharing of resources and information, has helped to improve their food safety training, education, and/or outreach.NECAFS will leverage partnership with non-governmental community-based organizations, extension, food hubs, state regulatory agencies, cooperatives, and other industry-based organizations to reach the target audiences of farmers, processors, and vendors through the continuation of our Implementation Plan. To begin, we will build capacity, competency and collaboration that will identify key food safety priorities and based on integrated discussion, produce educational programs (e.g. webinars) and other resources that will be science-based and consistent with FSMA guidelines. This content will bridge the gap between educators and regulators, providing them with touchpoints throughout the year and improve their communication and coordination efforts. Additionally, these webinars will support educators and regulators by enabling them to provide best practices technical assistance to growers and processors by leveraging peer-to-peer learning and by helping to distribute science-based information. We will support the current Preventive Controls workgroup activities. This group has a lot of momentum built up from years of connecting, brainstorming, and implementing project activities and is heading into these next three years ready to meet the varying needs of their audience with tailored resources that address individual challenges. Additionally, there has been expressed interest from other PC educators to join the workgroup's efforts. Annie Fitzgerald will continue to be devoted to supporting the workgroup. We have found that having dedicated staff helps to ensure engagement, workgroup traction and project outputs. We will leverage Google Analytics to understand what topics users are searching for and cannot find when using the Food Safety Resource Clearinghouse. Through data visualization and publishing a summary report, our national partners will be able to make data-driven decisions around content development and technical support.Additionally, NECAFS will continue to support the LRCC's national objectives, through continued Clearinghouse consolidation and communication of project resources and peer-review of add-on and supplemental material submitted through the Clearinghouse. We will also continue to coordinate, communicate, and assess regional FSOP projects and contribute that information to the LRCC's unified reporting structure. Finally, we will promote national integration and other national initiatives as they develop. This approach will ensure that activities and efforts undertaken by our project partners across the nation will be integrated within the national FSOP infrastructure. Letters of support from the other proposed RC's and the LRCC articulate the coordination of this approach to national engagement and integration.