Jumpstart to Farm Food Safety - Farm Food Safety Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Farms

1. Create a website in the first three months of the project that will be updated throughout the program and serve as a portal for the project and include program advertisements, links to Farm Food Safety Plan templates, farmer-generated examples and other documents, a registration form to sign up for an on-farm visit, and showcase the work conducted during the project. The website will provide links to other organizations that typically work with farmers, such as MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association), NOFA-NH (Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire), farm bureau, food co-ops, and many others. We will also offer links to NECAFS and other regional or national relevant stakeholders.2. Create a webinar series with three online offerings for farmers in the region. One introductory during the first year of the project to present the program's objectives, how we plan to conduct the visits and related work, how to participate in the program, how farmers can register for an on-farm visit, and the expectations for participants. Another one in the second year of the project to share success stories, the challenges we faced so far, and how we intend to move forward and hear feedback from the farmers who already participated and intend to participate. The last one will share more success stories, how we improved during the project, and future steps. These webinars will be recorded and made available on the program's website. We will also share it with our regional partners through the NECAFS Food Safety Clearinghouse.3. Create materials to help farmers meet their food safety needs. This will include three to five short videos (2-5 minutes) showcasing good practices found during the initial on-farm visits, a farm food-safety risk-assessment checklist, and other documents to help farmers in both states to overcome the most significant barriers in creating their Farm Food Safety Plans that are common across the different types of farms in the region and are consistent with the FSMA guidelines. As we identify such barriers, we will post resource materials on the program's website to address them. These resources will also be shared with our regional partners.4. Assist ten farms per year per state (Maine and New Hampshire) for the three years of the project (totaling 60 farms) with their Farm Food Safety Plans. This will include at least one farm visit to help farmers conduct a farm food-safety risk-assessment and use such assessment to develop their Farm Food Safety Plan.