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March 08, 2024
Happy 2024!
We hope that everyone has had a fantastic start to 2024 and can’t believe that spring is upon us! The PSA has hit the ground running by attending in-person conferences, planning out the 2024 training schedule, and continuing to seek new opportunities to collaborate. This newsletter includes upcoming training opportunities, a survey, an employment opportunity, and some general information regarding PSA resources. We look forward to a great March and we hope to see you soon!
-The PSA Team
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PSA Advanced Training Workshop | |
The PSA partnered with the University of Florida, the Southern Center for Food Safety Training, Outreach, and Technical Assistance, and Florida Organic Growers (FOG) to host a PSA Advanced Training Workshop in Lake Alfred, Florida just a few weeks ago. The course was another great success, with 22 participants who made for a very engaging and fun couple of days. Funding for this training was supported through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP). TOPP is a program of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative and is administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP). The training team and PSA would like to thank all parties for their sponsorship of the training, which allowed for the participation fee to be waived for each of our participants. The PSA hopes to continue offering PSA Advanced Training Workshops in the future, though this will not be possible without additional funding. | |
Agricultural Water Update:
This year is the first year (starting January 26, 2024) that many non-sprout produce operations are subject to routine inspections of agricultural water sources, quality, and use practices. It's a move forward, and brings expectations of an interesting year for produce growers, harvesters, and packers as well as produce safety inspectors themselves, as we all work through what compliance looks like.
Check the PSA website under General Resources -> Water for new and updated resources to help understand implementation and compliance with requirements for agricultural water used during and after harvest. One of the updated resources is ‘FSMA Produce Safety Rule Water Requirements: Insights to Get you Organized! Focus on Harvest and Postharvest Uses’. Stay tuned for the final text of revised requirements for agricultural water used during production (pre-harvest activities). Updates to the PSA Required Records templates are also in the works.
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Spanish Language Translation of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule Preamble:
The Preamble to the FSMA Produce Safety Rule (PSR) is now available in Spanish! This project was led by the Spanish-Language Extension Associates, Laura Acuña-Maldonado and Yulie Meneses. The Preamble provides rationale for the provisions in the codified FSMA PSR, describes FDA’s thinking as the agency developed the Rule, and responds to stakeholders' comments. PSA Communication Specialist, Rob Way, used hyperlinks in the Table of Contents of this 513-page PDF document to facilitate navigation. We hope our Spanish-speaking stakeholders and the general public find this resource useful. The document can be found in the Spanish-Language PSA website, under the FSMA tab, or visit: https://cornell.app.box.com/file/1428853864635?s=6oxasjc9vod58mgdwola728lttp1cgma.
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Southeast Region
Tommy Saunders and Yulie Meneses had the opportunity to participate in some in-person activities during the first two months of the new year. Yulie attended the Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference in Savannah, Georgia, where she spoke about Current Events in the PSA at the Southern Center meeting. This was a great opportunity for Yulie to meet more produce safety folks in the Southeast Region and to promote further collaboration. Yulie has also been busy helping with Spanish-Language PSA Grower Trainings in Florida, and continuing to help growers understand compliance with the PSR in the region and internationally. Tommy recently attended the Southern Region Integrated Produce Safety (SRIPS) conference in Greenville, South Carolina. This was a great meeting where extension educators, regulatory personnel and growers had the opportunity to sit down and discuss some of the heavy hitting issues with PSR compliance in their own states. Tommy and Yulie also had the great opportunity to train along the PSA Advanced Training Team, in Lake Alfred, FL. The training made for a great week of learning and many hands-on activities for the trainers and participants, alike.
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Western Region
The PSA team is down one member effective January 2024 with the departure of Thais De Melo Ramos. We will miss working with Thais, and we wish her and her family the very best. This leaves the role of Southwest Regional Extension Associate unfilled. Trainers and collaborators in the Western Region should direct any inquiries to Collins Bugingo (cb883@cornell.edu) for the time being. We will communicate any other changes in the future.
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Northeast Region
On January 24, 2024, Laura Acuña-Maldonado presented on FSMA PSR Inspections Outcomes, Postharvest Agricultural Water, and Traceability, at the Empire State Producers Expo 2024. The 3-day Expo is organized by the New York State Vegetable Growers Association. That same week, on January 22 at the NECAFS Annual Conference in Portland, Maine, PSA Director Betsy Bihn spoke about connecting research data with extension, and PSA also supported a half-day workshop where we tested out emerging risk-based tools. The Decision Support Tool, with collaborators including University of Vermont and PSA, helps growers and packers make decisions about farm practices overall and was supported by Betsy Bihn and Laura Pineda-Bermudez. The Risk Prioritization Tool for water, with collaborators Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, and PSA, helps to prioritize risk-reduction strategies for preharvest agricultural water usage and was supported by Don Stoeckel. We were thrilled to be able to support this well-attended, informative conference and we are excited to continue our collaborations in the Northeast Region and beyond!
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Midwest Region
The Midwest Region is running at full speed for winter grower trainings. Laurie George attended the Everything Local Conference in Springfield, Illinois last month. This conference covers everything from local foods, Farmers Markets, to Specialty Crops. With over 700 attendees and over a hundred vendors, this conference was a success! Speakers focused on fruit and vegetable production, urban agriculture, flower and herb production, farmers' market management, as well as business development. Food safety continues to be a hot topic with the Proposed Subpart E still not finalized and the new Traceability Rule. Updates on both of these topics were presented by Laurie.
In early March, Laurie will be traveling to Jefferson City, Missouri to assist Lincoln University in hosting a PSA Grower Training Course, and will be speaking about FSMA and the Produce Safety Rule at the Illinois Environmental Health Association meeting at the end of the month.
For those in the Midwest Region, don’t forget to sign up for the North Central Region Annual Conference, scheduled in the Chicago area on April 3-4, 2024. Additional information can be found at the North Central Region webpage .It should be a great conference.
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Farm and Packinghouse Sanitation Survey
Who is this for: Growers, Packers, Sanitation leads on farms and in packinghouses
How much time will it take? 5 minutes or less AND it is anonymous.
Who is collecting the information: A national group of university crop pest management and food safety researchers and extension educators
Why you should spend your time: New research and extension outreach is being planned and we want to make sure it is relevant to growers and packers.
What are the questions about? Concerns, practices, and barriers related to equipment sanitation.
How do I access the survey? This link: https://forms.gle/DUxQQWXVh8LiANWa9
Thank you for your time and effort to complete this survey! If you have questions, comments, or concerns contact Dr. Matt Grieshop at mgrieshop@calpoly.edu
The survey can also be accessed by scanning this QR code:
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Food Safety Manager
Food Safety & Regulatory · Remote, District of Columbia (Remote)
Position Summary
The Food Safety Manager provides strategic input and operational execution of training, technical content and regulatory resources. The role pursues partnerships and funding opportunities to allow the development and expansion of IFPA food safety, quality, and regulatory resources and training.
For more information, go to: https://internationalfreshproduce.bamboohr.com/careers/51
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