If you grow fruits and vegetables for sale, you should consider attending the Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training on Tuesday, March 19. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Elkhart County Community Center on the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds, 17746 County Road 34, Goshen, Indiana. For growers across the state, three virtual training opportunities will also be available on April 25, May 22, and June 6.
Thanks to sponsorship by the Indiana Farmers Market Community of Practice, these trainings are offered free of charge. The normal cost would be $100 per person. Lunch will be provided for up to 30 people who register by March 9th. Individuals can still register after March 9th but may not get lunch provided.
Who should attend? Fruit and vegetable growers, specifically farmers, market vendors, and managers interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety.
This training is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in the federal produce safety laws § 112.22(c).
That law requires at least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm to have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under a standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration. Participants will receive a course manual and certificate of course attendance.
The trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering the content 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: Postharvest Water); and Postharvest Handling and Sanitation.
To register, go to the Indiana Farmers Market Community of Practice website (infmcp.org) or call Christina Ferroli at (317) 403-2801.