Figure 1. Two student workers at the Purdue Student Farm washing lettuce using a vegetable washer (Photo by Joshua Clark, Purdue University College of Agriculture).
The Safe Produce Indiana team will host two Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Trainings in March. An in-person training will be held on Wednesday, March 11, at the Elkhart County Extension Office in Goshen, IN. A remote, Spanish-language training will be held on Thursday, March 12. The cost of attendance is $20 and includes a certificate of course completion, the PSA Grower Training manual, and other training materials.
The Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training is for fruit and vegetable growers and others 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. The PSA Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy 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 a standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.’
The trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering the 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: Postharvest Water)
- Postharvest Handling and Sanitation
- How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan
Growers can learn more and register at the following links: