Practical Tools for Food Safety on Small, Diversified Fruit & Vegetable Farms

Project GoalsThe long-term goal of this project is to strengthen the supply chain in Georgia for sustainably produced fruits and vegetables for local distribution. Achieving this goal requires investing in farmers and preparing farm businesses to meet the rising demand for local, nutritious food, as well as outreach and capacity building in the agricultural service sector to train farmers with effective methodologies. The proposed project will offer practical tools for food safety for small- and mid-size farmers through: a) coordination of services among partner organizations, b) facilitation of farmer-to-farmer exchanges at field days and workshops, c) integration with NOP certification programs, d) engagement of major Georgia food buyers in development of second party food safety audits, e) development of infrastructure toolkits for FSMA-compliant wash, pack, and storage facilities, and f) data collection to inform future farmer-centric education and outreach. Project ObjectivesCoordination of Services. Key partners establish a Georgia Small Farms Food Safety Team to increase food safety services available to target audience and to coordinateall project planning, outreach, and implementation functionsFood Safety Field Days and Workshops. Farmers receive responsive and relevant training that is facilitated through farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchanges, on-farm demonstrations, and hands-on educational workshops.Audit Preparation. Mock audits and second party audit framework is developed and implemented to increase food safety readiness, FSMA compliance, and market competitiveness.Record-Keeping Toolkit. New record-keeping resource is developed for farmers to integrate and synchronize FSMA-required record-keeping into the National Organic Program (NOP) required record-keeping. Infrastructure Toolkit. Infrastructure toolkit is developed for farmers to guide food safe and FSMA-compliant infrastructure improvements for small-scale harvest, wash, pack, and storage facilities. Data Collection & Analysis. Ongoing data collection will be conducted and analyzed to create recommendations for future services and resource development. ?