Strengthening Food Safety Education and Outreach For Kansas and Missouri Fruit and Vegetable Producers

The long-term goal is to improve public health by improving produce safety, thereby reducing foodborne illness. The short-term goal of this project is to educate small-scale farmers in Kansas and Missouri about produce safety to ensure compliance with FSMA and maintain their business sustainability. To accomplish this goal, the following objectives are envisaged:Compare the effectiveness of hands-on produce safety training of small-scale farmers (supplementary to the certified FSMA training) delivered entirely in a farm setting to training delivered in a classroom setting in both states.Provide free water testing to farmers attending the trainings to assist them in meeting the FSMA agricultural water requirements and build capacity for more economical future water testing.Develop/expand a smartphone application (app) to assist produce growers in meeting FSMA traceability requirements and to input other data to document compliance with FSMA requirements.