VIRTUAL INTERACTIVE PRODUCE SAFETY (VIPS) EXPLORATION PROGRAM FOR UNDERREPRESENTED BEGINNING FARMERS

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule directly impacts small- and - medium-sized growers, packers, and processors in the US and abroad. Although there is a wealth of produce safety educational material, resources that cater to underrepresented beginning farmers is limited. Therefore, the overall goal of this project is to develop produce safety educational material that meet the needs of underrepresented beginning farmers. Therefore, this project will focus on three objectives: (1) Development of produce safety virtual tours and associated activities; (2) Development of avenues to host educational material; and (3) Evaluation of educational material by focus group. The educational material developed will be relatable to the target audience as it will comprise virtual farm tours that are similar in size and related activities that correspond with the virtual tours.