Summary:
Fruit and vegetable growers who want to learn more about the Produce Safety Rule and what is covered may want to attend an upcoming Produce Safety Field Days. One is planned for April 6 at the Horticultural Crops Research Station in Clinton and the other is planned for April 13 at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River. The field days are free, but registration is required and limited to 50 per site.
Summary of Talking Points
- I wanted to talk today about two Produce Safety Field Days coming up in April. One is being held April 6 at the Horticultural Crops Research Station in Clinton.
- And the other is being held April 13 at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River.
- Both events run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch provided by the N.C. Farm Bureau Federation.
- These field days will give growers an opportunity to learn more about the Produce Safety Rule, which is a law within the Food Safety Modernization Act that established science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce for human consumption.
- Our goal with these field days is to help educate growers about the requirements of the Produce Safety Rule so they know what is expected. The broader, overarching goal is focused on food safety, which is important to all of us.
- The regulations developed a “farm-to-fork” approach to food safety. Food safety topics within the Produce Safety Rule include:
- worker health and hygiene,
- worker training,
- sanitary harvest practices,
- use of soil amendments,
- signs of wildlife on the farm,
- domesticated animal use on the farm,
- adjacent land use,
- water system analysis,
- cleaning and sanitation of harvest equipment,
- cleaning and sanitation in on-farm packinghouses,
- visitor policies and signs.
- As you can imagine these regulations cover a lot of ground.
- On the field day program, there will be
- a cleaning and sanitation demo,
- an activity on assessing a water system,
- presentations from our Division of Soil and Water Conservation on the AgWRAP program and cost-share opportunities for farmers,
- produce processing demo
- and an overview of the produce farm inspection.
- Growers will be able to see packing lines in action at both locations. At the Mills River site, a dedicated packing line has been installed onsite to show farmers best practices at events such as this one.
- The department’s mobile unit, which is a fully operational packing line on an 18-foot trailer, will be set up in Clinton to provide hands-on training.
- In addition to information on the Produce Safety Rule, there will be informational sessions with Soil and Water Conservation staff and department marketing specialists, along with networking opportunities with other agencies and groups that support produce farming.
- I encourage fruit and vegetable farmers to consider attending one of these field days. There will be a lot of useful information discussed.