Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is hosting two events aimed at farmers and agribusinesses on Thursday in the Holshouser Building at the State Fairgrounds.
The 11th annual Agricultural Development Forum will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and at 1:30 p.m. there will be an information session about new federal food safety rules. Admission to both events is free.
This year’s forum will include a panel of farmers discussing how farm families prepare for and deal with opportunities and challenges. A second panel will feature representatives of food banks, supermarkets and hunger-relief groups, and it will focus on ways that North Carolina is addressing hunger and food insecurity.
The forum also will include an update on the state’s Food Manufacturing Task Force, and Commissioner Troxler will finish the morning session with his annual State of Agriculture address.
In the afternoon, officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold an information session about new federal rules developed under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The session will cover compliance dates and other aspects of the rules, which govern produce safety and preventive controls for human food and animal food.
Speakers will include FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor and representatives from the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Center for Veterinary Medicine. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about the rules, which FDA finalized last year.
Click on the audio player below to hear Commissioner Troxler and Rhonda discuss these events.
[Audio:/wp-content/uploads/Troxler_2-2-16.mp3|titles=Today’s Topic for Feb. 2]
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