Part 8 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

– Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

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Part 7 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

-Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

The USDA Good Agricultural Practices Third Party Audit requires that certain activities on the farm be documented. These logs should accurately reflect what you have done on the farm to ensure food safety. If you do not write your activities down, the auditor will assume that the activity never happened. This documentation may be new for many growers, so making it as easy as possible for you to comply will ensure that the documenting happens in a manner that is acceptable to an auditor.

Remember you may not need a third party audit; it depends on who is purchasing your produce. However, everyone should have a food safety plan.

What packinghouse logs will you need to have as a part of your farm food safety plan? [Read more…]

Part 6 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

-Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

The USDA Good Agricultural Practices audit requires that certain activities on the farm be documented. These logs should accurately reflect what you have done on the farm to ensure food safety. If you do not write your activities down the auditor will assume that the activity never happened. This documentation may be new for many growers, so making it as easy as possible for you to comply will ensure that the documenting happens in a manner that is acceptable to an auditor.

What harvest logs will you need to have as a part of your farm food safety plan?

[Read more…]

Part 5 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

– Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

The USDA Good Agricultural Practices audit requires that certain activities on the farm be documented. These logs should accurately reflect what you have done on the farm to ensure food safety. If you do not write your activities down the auditor will assume that the activity never happened. This documentation may be new for many growers, sample logs are available on the Plant & Pest Advisory On-Farm Food Safety section under manual forms.

What field operations logs will you need to have as a part of your farm food safety plan?

[Read more…]

Part 4 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

-Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

Part 4 continues the Answering General Questions portion of your farm food safety plan, which covers the broad details of:

• Who is responsible for the farm food safety plan and how to reach them
• Worker health and hygiene education
• Pesticide usage
• Traceability

Suggested wording for traceback, which may work for your farm food safety plan, is given in this installment. [Read more…]

Part 3 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan 

-Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

The purpose of the Answers to General Questions portion of your farm food safety plan is to cover the broad details of your plan. Who is responsible for plan implementation and how to reach them; worker health and hygiene education; pesticide usage; traceability; and self-auditing are topics that should be covered. Below is an outline along with suggested wording that may work for your farm food safety plan – traceability and self-auditing are discussed in part four.

• Food Safety Plan Responsibility – Personnel and Contact Information
• Farm Worker Health and Hygiene Education
• Pesticide Use

[Read more…]