In recent years, produce related foodborne illnesses have hit the media and impacted fresh fruit and vegetable growers. One of the impacts is a new food safety law that will bring changes to the fresh produce industry and likely affect producers both large and small. Many producers are nervous about what this could mean for their farm business. Join Betsy Bihn and Gretchen Wall of Cornell University’s National Good Agricultural Practices Program and the Produce Safety Alliance for a 2-day intensive workshop that will help you understand food safety risks and implement food safety practices on the farm.
This training is for any fresh produce grower interested in taking a proactive approach to food safety, and especially useful for anyone who is interested in selling to large retailers, institutional markets, or other buyers who require GAPs certification. On Day 1, Betsy and Gretchen will offer growers an in-depth look at GAPs, how and where microbial contamination can occur, and how to use the GAPs standards to write a farm produce safety plan. Also on Day 1, an inspector from the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets will describe the GAPs audit and answer your questions about this procedure, should you choose to participate in an audit in the future. On Day 2, we will break out the laptops and help you write your own farm produce safety plan. Ag & Markets personnel will be back on Day 2 to field more questions about audits as you work through your plan.
For Day 2, you will need to bring a laptop with Microsoft Word. If you do not have a laptop, there will be a limited number of computers available for you to use in the computer lab - please let us know as soon as possible if you need to borrow one!
If you would like to bring along a more computer-savvy employee of your farm to help on Day 2, you are welcome to do so; the cost for each additional farm representative is $20 (to cover their lunch), and you can bring up to 2 additional representatives. Your registration includes lunch, snacks, and coffee, as well as a packet of food safety reference materials and digital files of food safety resources.
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