Urbana, Illinois, USA
September 4, 2013
New federal food safety rules are coming for farmers, handlers, and processors. Before the rules are finalized, it’s time for all small farmers—even those who think they are wholly or partly exempt—to tune in and weigh in, said Extension educator Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant.
On October 3, U of I Extension, along with Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Illinois Farmers Market Association, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition will present a webinar covering the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
The webinar will run from 3 to 4:30 p.m. There is no charge for the webinar, but registration is required.
Topics covered in the webinar will include:
- Introduction to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, local food systems and small farm educator, U of I Extension
- Preparing for FSMA: Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and On-Farm Food Safety Plans, James Theuri and Ellen Phillips, local food systems and small farm educators, U of I Extension
- In-depth Overview of FSMA (including Tester-Hagan Amendment and other local food and organic-related amendments), Wes King, interim executive director, Illinois Stewardship Alliance
- How to Get Involved: the Federal Register Comment Process and Resources for More Information, Sarah Hackney, grassroots director, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
- Q & A
Wes King of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance said that the FSMA is the first major overhaul to federal food safety laws since 1938. FSMA gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broad new powers to prevent food safety problems, detect and respond to food safety issues, and improve the safety of imported foods.
“FSMA includes new regulations regarding the growing, harvesting, holding, and transporting of produce and in facilities that process food. This means it represents some big changes to our food system,” King said.
Growers may be asking how the rules might affect their farm? Do the rules apply to them? Is their farm exempt? King said these are all questions that the webinar hopes to answer.
“At the beginning of the year, the FDA released draft-proposed rules governing the practices on produce farms and for facilities that process food. These rules are enormous, in total well over 1,000 pages. This webinar will cover the basics of what FSMA is and intends to do, but more important, what it means for small farms and local food systems and how you can learn more and get involved,” King added.
“Buyers and consumers alike are becoming more concerned about food safety and are demanding that growers become certified by food safety inspectors, who serve as third-party auditors and who verify that growers are following good agricultural practices (GAPs). For guidance, the growers use a written plan that indicates the standard operating procedures that aim to reduce the risk of contamination of produce,” said Extension educator Ellen Phillips.
Pat Stieren, executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association, said that these regulations will affect farmers markets as well; therefore input from farmers and growers is important.
“Farmers markets in Illinois have grown to over 350 markets in 2012, up from 94 markets in 1997. After years of working to build these viable farmers markets, small family farmers and producers are seeing increased revenue as people in their communities increasingly buy more locally grown foods to support their local economies. Failure to make sure that the new food safety regulations work for local farmers may put a halt to this market-based success story across Illinois and the country. We have a chance to have our voices heard in Washington,” she said.
U of I Extension offers this webinar and other GAPs training to help growers identify areas of high food contamination risk, particularly with infectious microbes, and prepares the growers to write a food safety plan. “We help them with writing safety plans and, if requested, follow with mock audits of their farms in preparation for the real audit,” added Extension educator James Theuri.
Species
