Food Safety in Agritourism

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Long term goals of the Food Safety in Agritourism project are to increase the number and diversity of students pursuing and completing a baccalaureate degree in food and agricultural sciences and enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction to meet current and future food sciences workplace needs. Employers providing food materials in producer to consumer operations need employees trained in safe food handling methods in crop production, harvesting, storage, and handling of raw produce and processed food materials provided directly to the consumer. This project requires development of a sequence of three courses (spring, summer, fall) based on crop production and harvesting appropriate for that season with an emphasis on crops produced traditionally for on-farm consumption and are common components of various agritourism operations. Students will participate in hands on activities associated with all phases of the food cycle from production through consumption using both traditional and non-traditional methods many of which are not taught in current university courses. While agriculture students and human ecology students may be taught some of these principles in normal coursework, the uniqueness of this program combines these components in a natural progression while supplementing learning with hands-on activities that are unique to agritourism operations. Specific objectives include:1) Safe handling of amendments, such as fertilizers, manures, pesticides, etc. with emphasis on non contamination of raw materials going directly to the consumer or to processing; 2) Evaluation of quality, disease detection, and cleaning of produce for safe consumption; 3) Proper methods of processing foods (canning, freezing, drying, etc.) to prevent contamination or creation of habitats for pathogenic organisms; 4) Safe handling of prepared and unprocessed food materials for direct consumption; and 5) Regulations, licenses, etc. required for any operation providing food materials for human consumption. Anticipated outcomes/impacts are to increase overall student learning by raising student averages on the plant sciences section of national standard exams to an average of 70%, establish and continue an innovative program for students to meet career goals, increase employer satisfaction by providing a pool of employment ready graduates, increase public confidence in food safety by providing knowledgeable professionals to advise or operate locally controlled and environmentally sound enterprises, improve natural resource health by producing leaders trained in the safe use of agricultural chemicals and detection of plant diseases and pests and broaden social, community, and academic awareness of alternative agriculture production systems and products. Results of this project will be disseminated at professional conferences and through professional journals. Within the community, demonstrations of food safety would be presented at local events and to school tour groups. The program will also provide workshops for agriculture educators in food safety.

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APPROACH: Project begins in Spring, 2011 with TTU approval of curriculum changes. Coursework begins Jan. 2012 and ends December, 2013 with the final report presented May, 2014. The anticipated timetable of events with performance milestones is as follows: Date/Performance Target Milestone/Objectives: May 2011/Present course curriculum to committee for approval/Receive approval; Aug. 2011/Legacy Cycle Workshop for Agronomy Faculty/Faculty implement Legacy Cycle; Sept.-Dec. 2011/Set up materials/space for cool season crops; Develop course lecture/lab materials; Recruit students/Complete set-up & course development; recruit 15 students; Jan- May 2012 /AGRN 2010 Food Safety in Agritourism Planning Course Dissemination; Ag-in-the-Classroom activity /Teach course; May 2012/End of semester report; Evaluation; June- July 2012 /AGRN 2020 Food Safety in Agritourism Growing & Harvesting Course Dissemination; Farmer's market/STEM Center presentations/demonstrations; Provide continuing education workshops to area teachers/Teach course; conduct workshops: can produce; make: jellies, salsa, relish, pickles; August 2012/End of semester report; Evaluation; Aug.-Dec. 2012/AGRN 2030 Food Safety in Agritourism Post-Harvest Course Dissemination; Provide ServSafe course and exam; Give Pesticide Applicator Certification exam; Dissemination: Public Demonstrations; Teach effective public presentations/Teach course; 100% pass rate on ServSafe exam; 100% pass rate on Pesticide exam; Dec. 2012/Reports: End of semester; End of year Evaluation; Year 2 will be a repetition of year 1 concerning course dissemination. Project evaluation will be conducted by an external evaluator and will consist of formative progress monitoring and summative product assessment. The stated timeline, products, results, and outcomes will form the basis of the evaluation. The project will be monitored as it evolves by reviewing emerging documents and interacting with project staff regularly (at least once a month) and meet with the project team as a group at least once a month to provide feedback and share impressions. The evaluation will seek to answer two primary questions: Did the project team engage in the activities that were proposed in a timely fashion To what extent were the projected outcomes achieved Ancillary consideration will be given to collecting the lessons learned, (i.e. what might/should have been done differently) and unintended consequences (i.e. positive or negative results that were not anticipated). Data will include official project documentation (syllabi, reports, and actions of university governance bodies), quantitative measures of enrollment patterns, and qualitative input from project staff, collaborating businesses and agencies, and participating students. Particular attention will be directed toward assessing how the project advances the two HEC Program Goals. Comprehensive evaluation reports will be completed and submitted within 30 days of the end of each semester. A final report will be submitted within 90 days of the end of the final semester of the project.