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<p>1. Identify gaps in knowledge regarding food safety in the production of local foods</p>
<p>2. Identify gaps in food safety practices</p>
<p>3. Examine the effects of implementing best practices on operations</p>
<p>4. Develop pre-harvest and post-harvest food production and handling training.</p>
<p>Research outcomes: Identify informational needs for current production, processing and marketing practices of animal products, Collect survey data for consumer attitudes toward, and beliefs about, the availability, quality, affordability and desirability of local or regional foods. Identify areas of microbial contamination and cross-contamination routes on farms through microbial analysis of on-farm practices. Develop new or optimize existing accurate, fast, portable and "easy-to-use" detection methods for farmers to better understand and monitor the safe food production. Provide an economic assessment for implementation of best practice techniques for the production of a safe and secure local and regional food supply. Learning outcomes: Describe the basic elements in detail (both pre and post harvest) of a food production, handling, safety, marketing and traceability plan. Provide an understanding of how each person fits into an overall food security and why their actions are important in creating a safe food system. Assess food production, handling, safety, marketing and traceability risks on a situational basis (e.g. farm, processing plant, livestock auction barn, retail site, institutional site). Determine the critical points to control the risk on a situational basis and describe the monitoring, recordkeeping and verification of systems necessary to control those risks. Determine an action plan if a breach of safety occurs. Action outcomes: A total of 150 undergraduate students will write food production, handling, safety, marketing and traceability plans for their employers (or potential employers) in the farm and food industry. A total of 100 training participants will adopt and implement food production, handling, safety, marketing and traceability plans for their own food or farming operations. A total of 20 regional trainers will serve as resource people concerning food production, handling, safety. marketing and traceability plans for the Southeast.</p>
<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> To address the goal of improving food security by sustaining the viability of small producers and vendors, the project will address: Food production: Examination and development of best management practices and scale appropriate productions systems. Sustaining the economic viability of agriculture is important to improving food security in the United States. Despite our wealth, some households still suffer food insecurity, often those in rural neighborhoods who depend on agriculture for food and income. At the same time, interest in locally and regionally grown food is increasing, and encouraging growth of local and regional food producers and processors will help revitalize rural economics. Regulation and inspection of food products are inconsistent, so small farmers, farmers markets, and small niche operators may not have adopted necessary
food safety and security measures adopted by larger operators. We will identify gaps in food safety and security knowledge among local and regional animal producers in the Southeast. Significant disparities also exist between consumer perceptions of local and regional foods and the reality. Consumers are believed to perceive such foods as safer and of better quality, yet recent recalls of raw organic milk, organic eggs and poultry from small producers show they are not always meeting consumer expectations. We still do not understand the relationship of production practices with meat flavor, so this project will help to identify some of the gositive and negative compounds. We will address food safety gaps among local and regional producers to justify consumer confidence and ensure producers economic viability. Team members will assess current practices relating to food safety among local
food producers and processors; identify best practices; collect data; and educate local and regional stakeholders.
<p>APPROACH:
<br/>Case studies will be created by interviewing a set of livestock producers in the southeast about their daily practices, particularly those relevant to productivity, food safety, sustainability, traceability, biosecurity, marketing and handling. Consumer attitudes toward and beliefs about the safety, availability, quality, affordability and desirability or local and regional foods will be determined through phone surveys. A statistically representative sample of the southeast will be drawn and surveyed via random digit dialing. Patrons and vendors at farmers markets will be surveyed to assess awareness of food safety risks and preventative practices. Potential microbial contamination and cross-contamination routes on farms during production, processing and throughout the supply chain will be identified by conducting microbial analysis for water run-off,
soil/manure samples and swab samples from process plants and storage areas. On-farm sampling will take place on two cattle farms of three different sizes (small, medium and large). To better understand the differences in operation between small and USDA- or state-certified slaughter/processing plants, four small processing facilities and one USDA- or state-certified slaughter plant will be identified as sites for investigation and sampling. In addition, two grocery stores will be utilized for the in-store survey locations. During this part of the project, collected data will be analyzed to determine best practices, needs, and what steps to take to improve production and distribution of farm products. Partial budgeting techniques will be used to assess the effect of implementing a recommended best practice. GC and LS/MS will be used to identifty compounds that are positively and
negatively correlated with flavor preferences in meats.</p>