Produce Food Safety Training Course

Produce farmers are food handlers! Let’s do it safely and cost-effectively.

A practical, systems-based training, designed by farmers for farmers, to develop and implement scale-appropriate food safety plans. In this six week online class, farmers are guided through the process of performing food safety risk assessments of their farm operations. They identify changes they wish to make, and utilizing free online templates, write a food safety plan to address them. The plans include farm maps and assessments, food safety practices and standard operating policies, and logs and record keeping systems. Training integrates co-management of the farm’s natural resources into the design of the food safety system. Practical discussion of scale-appropriate strategies for cost-effective implementation of food safety goals are part of each topic area. Following each session, participants work on writing that portion of their food safety plan.

REGISTER HERE.

Training Schedule (Mondays, 6-8 p.m.):

• Monday, February 6
• Monday, February 13
• Monday, February 20
• Monday, February 27
• Monday, March 6 
• Monday, March 13

Who will benefit from attending? Fruit or vegetable growers of any scale or experience level and others interested in learning about fresh produce food safety, the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management of natural resources with food safety. No previous knowledge or experience is necessary.

The training will cover: introduction to produce safety, risk assessments, land use, co-management, domestic animals and wildlife, worker qualifications and training, human health/hygiene, agricultural chemicals and soil amendments, agricultural water, post-harvest handling and sanitation, recordkeeping and traceability, and the FSMA Produce Rule. 

Materials to gather before the first class: a three ring binder, hole punch, binder separator tabs and your farm map

Instructor: Atina Diffley is an organic farmer, author, consultant and international trainer helping farmers develop effective, profitable farm systems and food safety plans.