Amber Vallotton is an Extension Specialist, acting as the Fresh Produce Safety Coordinator for Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). She has been with Extension for close to 18 years, starting first as an agent in Rockingham County, VA, then her current role at Virginia Tech in 2014. She is the founder of [...]
PI: Pruden, Co-PIs: Archibald, Drape, Hession, Knowlton, Krometis, Ponder, Vallotton, Xia Goal: The overall goals of this project was to identify critical control points for the spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) from farm to fork and corresponding mitigation strategies. Benefits: Develop and disseminate new knowledge to livestock producers, [...]
PI: Strawn Goal: The goal of this project is to examine the microbial die-off of generic E. coli when sprayed on the harvestable portion of tomato, cucumber, and cantaloupe in the field. Benefits: The FSMA Produce Safety Rule will allow growers to apply a 0.5 log reduction of generic [...]
PI: Strawn, Co-PI: Danyluk/Florida and Chapman/NCSU Goal: The project aimed to provide scientific data on which to update/refine melon specific best practice guidance to reduce to likelihood of cross-contamination events in field-packing operations by quantifying the transfer of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes onto melons from each potential cross-contamination surface [...]
PI: Strawn Goal: The goal of this project was to develop microbial water quality profiles (geometric mean and statistical threshold value) for twenty different ponds on the ESV and educate growers about new FSMA agricultural water standards. Benefits: Baseline data for growers in the region and educational resources were [...]
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 [...]
