Cooperative Extension Service to offer remote produce safety training for fruit and vegetable growers

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Keeping produce free of microbial contamination and reducing foodborne illness is critical to the success of commercial growers. To support these efforts, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will offer a remote, two-day produce safety training workshop for fruit and vegetable growers.

SAFE PRODUCE HANDLING — The Cooperative Extension Service, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, will offer a remote, two-day safety training workshop for fruits and vegetable growers May 24-24. Topics covered will include soil amendments, postharvest handling, sanitation and developing a farm food safety plan. (Division of Agriculture graphic.) 

The workshop will provide important information on best practices, worker health and hygiene, risk management and more. The training will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, May 24 and Thursday, May 25 from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. each day. Participants can register online at uada.formstack.com/forms/psa_2023.

Registration is $25 per person for Arkansas residents and $100 per person for out-of-state residents. The deadline to register is May 17. Participants must have access to Zoom software, a web camera, microphone and stable internet access.

Gaby Sanders, extension program associate for local, regional, and safe foods for the Division of Agriculture, said the Arkansas Produce Safety team is looking forward to hosting their only remote training of 2023.

“The growing season started early this year, so we are happy to offer this remote training that allows our growers to stay close to their farms,” Sanders said. “We hope this will also encourage some of the newer operations around the state to attend.”

Topics covered will include soil amendments, postharvest handling, sanitation and developing a farm food safety plan.

Sanders said the Arkansas Produce Safety Team will also host an in-person training in northwest Arkansas in October 2023.

“At our next in-person training, we hope to see produce growers of every scale,” she said. “Seeing the interactions between seasoned growers and those who are just starting out motivates us to offer more in-person opportunities. The knowledge passed along between growers during break times is just as valuable as the topics we’re presenting.”

Amanda Philyaw Perez, extension associate professor of food systems and food safety specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said the workshop helps growers “learn the basics to set your farm apart in the marketplace.”

“This training opportunity teaches the basics of on-farm produce safety,” Philyaw Perez said. “It can help growers selling at farmers markets or those who would like to get a USDA Good Agriculture Practices audit to sell to wholesale, farm to school, grocers or other buyers that require a food safety program.”

The training, developed by the Produce Safety Alliance and presented by the Cooperative Extension Service’s Arkansas Produce Safety Team, teaches growers about regulatory requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. FSMA is the first federally regulated standard for growing, harvesting, packing, and holding fresh produce.

For more information, contact Sanders at gsanders@uada.edu or at 501-671-2046.