Training and Technical Support to Help Small Vegetable Farms Meet the Cleaning and Sanitization Requirements of the Produce Safety Rule

Insufficient or inadequate cleaning schedules, insufficient documentation of their implementation (logs), and lack of Standard Operating Proceduresused for cleaning and sanitizing of equipment are the most important and significant barriers to small farms achieving compliance with the Produce Safety Rule.This project seeks to address those barriers by building out our existing suite of produce safety educational resources and using them to deliver training and ongoing technical support directly to 500 small vegetable farms.1. Work with a multi-state team of project partners, including cooperative extension, a non-profit organization, and individual farm operators, to develop a comprehensive suite of educational resources that address shared food safety concerns around cleaning and sanitizing practices consistent with the FSMA PSR. 2. Disseminate and explain the educational resources to thousands of small, diversified vegetable growers throughout Georgia, Michigan, New England, and New York using project partner networks of blogs, listservs, newsletters, web sites, social media, and personal contacts. 3. Deliver trainings on cleaning and sanitizing practices to directly engage and educate 500 small, diversified vegetable growers through on-farm and kitchen-table workshops. 4. Provide individual technical support to those 500 growers through farm visits, phone, email and text to facilitate their adoption of improved cleaning and sanitation practices that are consistent with FSMA PSR guidelines. 5. Document the adoption of improved cleaning and sanitizing practices on 375 small diversified vegetable farms located in Georgia, Michigan, New England, and New York.