Building Capacity of Food Science Cluster At Western Kentucky University to Control Pathogens On Fresh Produce At Kentucky Farmers` Markets

The long-term goals of this project are to build the research and extension capacity of Western Kentucky University (WKU) to strengthen the institution's ability to sustainably provide quality, dynamic, and innovative research and extension activities in food sciences, and to build a strong partnership in research and extension between WKU, a non-land grant university, and West Virginia University (WVU), an 1862 land grant institution to meet the challenges of food safety in locally grown fresh produce. The specific objectives are to: 1) Conduct a survey to determine consumer perceptions of food safety of locally grown fresh produce sold at KY and WV farmers' markets; 2) build a research capacity of a novel mobile automated electro-chemical activation system to control food borne pathogens on fresh produce from KY and WV farmers' markets; and 3) train small farmers and farmers' market vendors through workshops and webinars on proper handling of fresh produce from field
to market.