Agriculture Forum: Building a culture of on-farm food safety

May 6—By Breanna Hannula

A culture of food safety is essential for any produce operation, regardless of scale.

Food safety culture is defined as the combination of attitudes, values and beliefs about produce safety and is the result of significant commitment by the whole farm.

Key components include attentiveness from all farm staff, effective communication between staff, a practical worker training program and continued monitoring and improvement.

Here's a short list of how to get started building an on-farm culture of food safety:

First, at least one person on the farm should take the Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training course. This nationally standardized training is offered virtually and in person, and is filled with valuable information pertaining to on-farm produce safety. It provides background information as well as alternatives to high-risk practices.

Second, all employees should be trained, including seasonal workers hired only for harvest. Employee training doesn't need to be an eight-hour seminar; it should be brief and relevant to the worker's duties. Important topics to cover during training include: recognizing symptoms of a food-borne illness, proper handwashing and reporting all possible produce-safety issues to a supervisor. Anyone who has contact with produce on the farm should be trained, including paid and unpaid staff, family members, friends and volunteers. The benefit of training is not only increased ability to do one's job correctly without oversight, but also to understand food safety best practices and implement them throughout the workday.

Third, evaluate current practices on-farm and determine if any present a high risk to produce safety. An example of a high-risk practice is applying raw manure to a field where raw produce is actively being grown. Raw manure is a major source of pathogens such as E. coli. Mitigating this risk could include applying fully cured compost or other treated soil amendment instead of raw manure or only applying the manure while the field is not actively being used to grow raw produce, such as during the off-season or during a non-produce field rotation. Many other high-risk practices can be minimized by making simple changes throughout the operation.

For best practice, food safety should be incorporated into everyday policies and practices throughout the farm. Time and commitment will help build a culture of food safety throughout any produce farm.

For more information or to schedule a one-on-one consultation, visit MIOFPS.org.

Breanna Hannula is a produce safety technician covering Manistee, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Antrim counties, as well as neighboring counties by request. She provides produce growers with free resources and education to assist farmers in using the safest growing, harvesting and handling practices for raw produce. For more information, contact her at bhannula@gtcd.org or 231-941-0960, ext. 31.

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