Strategies to Enhance Produce Safety on Virginia Farms for Implementation of FDA’s Produce Rule
PI:Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS); Co-PIs: Strawn*, Boyer, Eifert, Vallotton, and Williams Goal: The main objectives of this project are to aid VDACS in building a farm inventory for Virginia; to support VDACS in developing educational content and resources for growers related to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety [...]
A Southern Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Center to Enhance Produce Safety
PI: Strawn; Co-PIs: Boyer, Eifert, Vallotton, and Williams Goal: The overall goal of this project was to build a collaborative infrastructure in the Southern US to support the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)-compliant food safety training, education, extension, outreach, and technical assistance as it relates to the produce industry. Benefits: Publicly available supplemental curriculum [...]
Increasing Capacity to Provide Comprehensive Fresh Produce Food Safety Education from Farm to Fork
PI: Vallotton; Co-PIs: Boyer, Latimer, Straw, Strawn, and Williams Goal: This project focused on the development of educational produce safety resources in multiple formats (e.g., trainings, website, videos, factsheets) for growers, extension agents, and consumers. Benefits: Statewide agent and grower trainings. A comprehensive website aimed towards agents, growers, and consumers, a GAP decision-making tool, [...]
Virginia Farm to School Project Seeks to Increase Locally Sourced Foods in Public Schools
A growing number of schools are gradually transitioning from pre-made foods to more fresh, scratch cooked options. Given the emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables, there is an opportunity for local growers to gain greater access to public school systems. According to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), there are currently 1,822 K-12 schools in [...]