|
November 22, 2023
Dear PSA newsletter subscribers,
Wow! We are almost to the end of November and there are plenty of events still to come before the end of 2023. We have truly enjoyed getting to collaborate with many of you in numerous training opportunities and recent conferences. This newsletter will provide an update on PSA funding, revised and new resources from the PSA, and some regional updates from our extension associates. The entire PSA Team wishes you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
The PSA Team
| |
The PSA wants to remain transparent on the status of our current funding and our plans moving forward. As of now, the PSA will be out of funding on June 30, 2024. We are working to secure full funding. If the PSA is unsuccessful in our efforts, we will begin a systematic shut down of all operations. Until we know more, we will continue to work hard serving growers, educators, regulators, and other stakeholders while we navigate the next few months. Thank you for your continued support. If you benefit from the work we do or believe in the importance of our efforts, please reach out to your elected officials to let them know you value what we do. Those individual calls and emails make a huge difference. We have felt the outpouring of support over the past month from many of you. We cannot thank you enough for the support. We will make sure to keep everyone up to date as we find out more about the future of the PSA. | |
Water, Water, Everywhere! | |
|
Preharvest Agricultural Water Guidance: Betsy Bihn, Donna Clements, and Don Stoeckel contributed to Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Industry Guidance that was released by the International Fresh Produce Association 08 November. It was written by 15 industry-spanning authors as a series of short (~ 3 pages each) easy-to-use summaries about crucial topics. The briefs are tied together by four scenarios that describe how various requirements and concepts in the proposed revision to Subpart E: Agricultural Water can be used together to achieve risk reduction. The sections about the proposed regulatory requirements describe what compliance might look like when Subpart E is final.
Postharvest Agricultural Water Resources: PSA team members Betsy Bihn and Don Stoeckel attended the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture meeting and presented a poster organized by Thais Ramos. They also contributed to a 1.75-hour interactive breakout session about implementation and compliance with harvest- and postharvest water requirements that was attended by over 200 participants. In support of that breakout, two new resources are listed under General Resources/Water on the PSA websites (English and Spanish):
Revised the original 2019 FSMA Produce Safety Rule Water Requirements: Insights to Get You Organized fact sheet. Version 2 focuses on harvest and postharvest uses (https://resources.producesafetyalliance.cornell.edu/documents/Insights-to-get-you-organized.pdf)
Compiled a set of Resources Related to Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule Requirements for Agricultural Water Used During Harvest and Postharvest that focus on scientific knowledge or data that farms, packers, and inspectors can use to evaluate whether a practice is consistent with Produce Safety Rule requirements.
| | | |
PSA Grower Training Remote Delivery Policy | |
In May 2023, the Remote Delivery Policy was made permanent after a thorough analysis of evaluation data from the in-person and remote PSA Grower Trainings from 2019 and 2021, respectively. The findings of the analysis showed that there was no serious impact on the quality of the course based on the mode of delivery. Following this analysis and positive feedback from PSA Trainers, the PSA made the policy permanent. There were lessons to be learned, however. Specific comments and analyses identified areas for improvement. In response, the PSA has compiled a factsheet spotlighting the challenges and recommendations for improvement for future remote courses. Read more here | |
|
We now have 21 completed illustrations and teaching notes from the ‘More Than Words’ project! These illustrations provide a powerful and effective way to communicate Produce Safety Rule requirements. We encourage everyone to review these graphics, as they can be a valuable tool to incorporate in food safety trainings including the PSA Grower Training. Spanish translations of the notes coming soon! | |
Spanish-Language Podcasts | |
We are excited to announce the release of our Spanish-language podcast series “¿Qué vaina con la inocuidad?”. The podcast series aims to expand produce safety understanding and promote food safety culture in farms and packing houses for Latino/Hispanic farmers. PSA Team members Mariana Villareal-Silva, Davis Blasini, Yulie Meneses, and Laura Acuna-Maldonado recorded six short but very informative interviews with experts in the field that provide answers to common questions about food safety on the farm. Our first two episodes are available now! The first episode “Training new hires in food safety” discusses how to conduct effective trainings for farm workers considering the challenges imposed by cultural diversity, education levels, and high turnover. Stayed tuned, new episodes will be released each week. More details about this project here | |
Educational Opportunities | |
Upcoming PSA Train-the-Trainer Courses | |
We are preparing to release upcoming PSA Train-the-Trainer Courses, Online PSA Grower Trainings, and Spanish-Language PSA Grower Trainings dates shortly. We will add them to the December newsletter as well as to the website. | |
Produce Safety Educators' Group | |
|
On Monday, November 20th , the Educators’ Call presented a discussion on “Cultivating Relationships: Engaging Growers Who Still Need the PSA Grower Training Course”.
Despite training data that show more than 90,000 individuals have participated in the PSA Grower Training (GT) Course since Sept. 2016, there are still growers who have either not heard of the course, have avoided taking the course, or for some other reason have not been reached. A panel of experts in produce safety regulation, outreach, and extension discussed some of the ways they reach growers in the different communities they serve. Panelists also discussed some of the challenges they face in reaching underserved communities and how they have used PSA resources such as the Alternative Language Delivery Policy, More Than Words illustrations, and approved curriculum translations to ensure availability and accessibility of high-quality produce safety trainings. This discussion along with the entire catalog of Educators’ Group presentations can be found posted to the PSA YouTube channel.
Please, stay tuned for the first planned call of 2024. We have a few potential topics lined up, but if you would like to see a particular topic discussed please reach out to the PSA. Our goal is always to provide discussion on relevant topics to all of our educators.
| | |
|
Don Stoeckel re-joined PSA as a full team member in October 2023 from his new home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Don previously was in the position now held by Laurie George, the Midwest PSA Regional Extension Associate. His new responsibilities in Special Projects include creation of PSA products to support farms and educators with Subpart E: Agricultural Water education and regulatory inspections, helping growers prepare for FSMA 204: Traceability compliance starting in 2026, and mentoring new PSA team members. This new full-time role is an evolution of the temporary, part-time role Don has played with PSA since fall 2022. | | |
Southeast
Like all the regions, our work in the Southeast continues as we strive to provide new and interesting opportunities. While Tommy Saunders serves as the PSA Southeast Regional Extension Associate, the region is also fortunate to have the PSA’s newest Spanish-Language Extension Associate, Yulie Meneses, living in the region! Yulie hit the ground running in her new position with the PSA. While working with the Spanish-Language Extension Associates on many projects, some already highlighted above, she has been increasing her training experience by partnering with the University of Florida in PSA Grower Trainings. Continued collaboration in the Southeast is an important goal for Yulie and Tommy. In October, both partnered with IAFP’s Produce Safety PDG to plan and host the “Pre-harvest Internalization: Water-mediated Biological Internalization of Pathogens into Produce” webinar. The webinar was well attended and provided a great platform for discussion on the topic of internalization in fresh produce. Tommy has also continued his efforts to promote and engage with the southeast through Grower Trainings, Train the Trainer courses, and various PSA activities. He has led the PSA Online Grower Trainings, interacted with growers and educators fulfilling their PSA GT requirement, and mentored additional online instructors. Most recently, Tommy was able to attend the Interfacing Research and Extension for Enhanced Food Safety Meeting, just down the road from his base in Richmond, Virginia. The meeting provided a great platform for extension educators, researchers, and FDA to come together to discuss different scientific challenges in design and execution of field studies, communication of scientific information, and how to move research priorities are forward.
| |
Northwest
Collins Bugingo, the PSA Northwest Regional Extension Associate, has continued to not only engage in activities fostering quality PSA trainings through routine communication with trainers in the region, but also through other PSA activities. He recently gave PSA updates during the Produce Safety Western Regional Meeting. He has also participated in the quarterly Washington State Department of Agriculture Produce Safety steering committee meeting and Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety (WRCEFS) calls. It is always a joy to hear how well trainings are going and how best the PSA can help. Collins also led efforts for the PSA Educators' Call on Nov. 20th on how best we can keep reaching out to growers for quality PSA trainings. In addition, Collins also led the efforts to analyze the evaluation data for the remote delivery policy. A factsheet highlighting the lessons learned and best practices for remote delivery is now available. He also recently participated in the Food Safety Sanitation workshop hosted by Washington State University where postharvest sanitation and agriculture water scientific and regulatory aspects were discussed. Collins is a PSA Lead Trainer and continues to participate in PSA Grower Trainings on a per request basis from trainers and collaborators from the NW and nationally. He is currently working on his PSA Trainer of Trainers (ToT) application.
| | |
Northeast
Laura Acuna-Maldonado participated in the Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Systems In-Service for Cornell Cooperative Extension presenting Novel Training Tools: More Than Words Produce Safety Illustrations as part of a session on Creating Engaging Figures and Infographics on November 8, 2023. Betsy Bihn and Tommy Saunders attended the Interfacing Research and Extension for Enhanced Food Safety Meeting in Richmond, VA where Betsy presented Translating Research Findings to Reduce Microbial Risks on Produce Farms.
| | | | |
