Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training

Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training

ISU Extension and Outreach is hosting Produce Safety Alliance courses again this school year.  As someone who took the course last year, we’re hoping you could share this information with other growers you know and encourage them to attend.  The grant funding ends in May, and the course becomes considerably more expensive after this school year, so encourage everyone to attend a session quickly!

There’s no need to repeat the course.  But please let us know if you have follow-up questions or concerns.  We’d be happy to speak with you individually.

Here’s the information about the upcoming trainings:

Produce Safety Alliance Grower Trainings Scheduled

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host 11 Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training meetings. The training sessions are for fruit and vegetable growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety.  ISU Extension and Outreach specialists will lead each class.

This course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in §112.22(c) that requires “At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.”

A training will be held in:

Algona on March 12 at the Water’s Edge Nature Center (Kossuth County Conservation)

If that doesn’t work, we are hosting other trainings:

• Leon on February 28 at the 4-H Building at the Decatur County Fairgrounds
• Burlington on March 7 at the Great Prairie AEA Building

For more information and a complete list of trainings, visit their website: https://www.safeproduce.cals.iastate.edu/fda-produce-safety-rule

The trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering content contained in these seven modules:

• Introduction to Produce Safety
• Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
• Soil Amendments
• Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
• Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Postharvest Water)
• Postharvest Handling and Sanitation
• How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan

The course will provide a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan. Attending the course should help individuals gain a basic understanding of:

• Microorganisms relevant to produce safety and where they may be found on the farm
• How to identify microbial risks, practices that reduce risks, and how to begin implementing produce safety practices on the farm
• Parts of a farm food safety plan and how to begin writing one
• Requirements in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and how to meet them.

Attendees will be eligible to receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) that verifies they have completed the training course. To receive an AFDO certificate, a participant must be present for the entire training and submit the appropriate paperwork to their trainer at the end of the course.

The cost for the workshops is $20 for Iowa residents and $120 for out-of-state growers.  Two growers from the same farm/company can attend for $20, if they are willing to share a binder.

Cost includes PSA manual, certificate of completion, and lunch.

To register and pay with a credit card, go to the Safe Produce website,https://www.safeproduce.cals.iastate.edu/events

and click on the preferred training.  To register and pay by check, email IowaFSMA@iastate.edu

or call 515-294-6773, and a paper registration form will be sent to you.  A copy is also attached to this email.