This is a one-day training course for growers on the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) standardized curriculum that meets the regulatory requirements of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. To register please go to: ncfreshproducesafety.ces.ncsu.edu/2017/02/fsma-produce-safety-rule-growers-training/

Workshop registration fee:

$50.00 for NC residents.

$100.00 for Out-of-State participants.

The registration fee includes lunch, the Produce Safety Alliance manual and the certificate of participation. A Golden LEAF Grant is supporting this training and offsetting the registration costs for a limited time.

Payment can be made on the registration site via credit card (preferred) or by check.

Who should attend:

The Produce Safety Rule requires all farms that grow, pack, harvest and/or hold covered produce, making over $26,999 in annual produce sales (average over the last 3 years) and not qualifying for an exemption from the Rule to attend this training.

For a step-by-step guide of who needs to attend this training click here. This is a one-page document that provides a summary of exemptions under the PS Rule. Be aware that for exempt or qualified exempt farms that are not required to attend a PSA Grower training there are other requirements that must be fulfilled.

The PSA Grower Training Course satisfies the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in §112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.’

Course information:

The trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering content contained in these seven modules:

Introduction to Produce Safety
Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
Soil Amendments
Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Post harvest Water)
Post harvest Handling and Sanitation
How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan
In addition to learning about produce safety best practices, key parts of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements are outlined within each module.

Benefits of attending the course

The course will provide a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan. Individuals who participate in this course are expected to gain a basic understanding of:

Requirements in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and how to meet them.
Microorganisms relevant to produce safety and where they may be found on the farm.
How to identify microbial risks, practices that reduce risks, and how to begin implementing produce safety practices on the farm.
Parts of a farm food safety plan and how to begin writing one.

Participants will be eligible to receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) that verifies they have completed the training course. To receive an AFDO certificate, a participant must be present for the entire training and submit the appropriate paperwork to their trainer at the end of the course.

For further information on the Produce Safety Alliance, please see: producesafetyalliance.cornell.edu/training.

For questions regarding the workshops posted, please contact Chip Simmons at 919-414-5632 or via email at odsimmon@ncsu.edu.

Have heard about the new set of Federal food safety regulations and that small farms are exempt from this law? Come get the facts about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)'s Produce Safety Rule (PSR) and learn how the practices in the rule are relevant to small farms and how your farm may be impacted by the PSR. As part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the FDA developed “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption”, commonly referred to as the Produce Safety Rule (PSR). The goal for this Rule is to minimize the risks for consumers of eating raw fruit and vegetables that could be contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or parasitic organisms that cause food borne illness. The Produce Safety Rule targets produce (fruits and vegetables) that are usually eaten raw. The intent of this workshop is to help you understand where your farm may falls under this regulation and learn about food safety practices that are relevant to small, diversified farms in NC. Farm inspections are expected to start in the Spring of 2019 and even though most small and medium scale farms may be not covered or qualified exempt from some of the stipulations of the Rule all produce growers have the responsibility to grow, pack and hold produce following safe practices. Come learn with us!

Dinner will begin around 5 pm and the program will start around 5:30 pm.

Dr. Chip Simmons is an Area Specialized Agent for food safety serving eastern NC. His background is in environmental/public health microbiology and food safety. He is a lead trainer for both the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) curriculum as well as the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance curriculum, the two training curricula currently approved for meeting the requirements for the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and the Food Safety Preventive Controls Rule, respectively. He grew up on a farm in eastern NC and the focus of his efforts are to promote food safety on produce farms by helping growers understand and prepare for FSMA implementation as well as to assist growers in meeting their buyer requirements.

This is a one-day training course for growers on the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) standardized curriculum that meets the regulatory requirements of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. To register please go to: ncfreshproducesafety.ces.ncsu.edu/2017/02/fsma-produce-safety-rule-growers-training/

Workshop registration fee:

$50.00 for NC residents.

$100.00 for Out-of-State participants.

The registration fee includes lunch, the Produce Safety Alliance manual and the certificate of participation. A Golden LEAF Grant is supporting this training and offsetting the registration costs for a limited time.

Payment can be made on the registration site via credit card (preferred) or by check.

Who should attend:

The Produce Safety Rule requires all farms that grow, pack, harvest and/or hold covered produce, making over $26,999 in annual produce sales (average over the last 3 years) and not qualifying for an exemption from the Rule to attend this training.

For a step-by-step guide of who needs to attend this training click here. This is a one-page document that provides a summary of exemptions under the PS Rule. Be aware that for exempt or qualified exempt farms that are not required to attend a PSA Grower training there are other requirements that must be fulfilled.

The PSA Grower Training Course satisfies the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in §112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.’

Course information:

The trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering content contained in these seven modules:

Introduction to Produce Safety
Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
Soil Amendments
Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Post harvest Water)
Post harvest Handling and Sanitation
How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan
In addition to learning about produce safety best practices, key parts of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements are outlined within each module.

Benefits of attending the course

The course will provide a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan. Individuals who participate in this course are expected to gain a basic understanding of:

Requirements in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and how to meet them.
Microorganisms relevant to produce safety and where they may be found on the farm.
How to identify microbial risks, practices that reduce risks, and how to begin implementing produce safety practices on the farm.
Parts of a farm food safety plan and how to begin writing one.

Participants will be eligible to receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) that verifies they have completed the training course. To receive an AFDO certificate, a participant must be present for the entire training and submit the appropriate paperwork to their trainer at the end of the course.

For further information on the Produce Safety Alliance, please see: producesafetyalliance.cornell.edu/training.

For questions regarding the workshops posted, please contact Chip Simmons at 919-414-5632 or via email at odsimmon@ncsu.edu.