Our project looked to create an educational program focusing on critical practices of farm food safety. From harvest through produce washing to packing, and storage, a great deal of fresh produce can be cross-contaminated in a small space of the wash/pack facility. The key to reduce this risk is through a thorough understanding of facility hygiene and sanitation especially with equipment not designed to come apart and be cleaned. Cleaning of food contact surfaces such as hands, tools, and equipment needs to be understood. The design and layout of facilities is another important attribute that can affect the reduction of risks. Fundamentally, workers and the farmers themselves need an educational program that is easy to understand, applicable to their unique farming enterprise, and makes financial sense to implement.
We broke down the intensive subject of facility and food contact surface cleaning into component parts starting with harvest, causes of contamination, and prevention through the facility then equipment cleaning weaving ways of addressing the how's why's, and methods of achieving success. Participants brought up issues we had not considered so that was successfully addressed. Over 55% of farms reported coming away with practical and Implementable understanding food safety practices.