BROOME CO., N.Y. — Join Virtual PSA Trainers on Wednesday March 3rd via Zoom to gain your required food safety training by the Food Safety Modernization Act and many 3rd party food safety audits, such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs).
PSA Trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering content contained in the area of worker health, hygiene, soil amendments, wildlife, agricultural water, post-harvest handling and sanitation, along with how to develop a Farm Food Safety Plan. Activities and interaction time among peers will also occur each day to meet the requirements from AFDO (Association of Food and Drug Officials) and the Produce Safety Alliance related to attendee engagement.
Each participant farm will receive a manual. The manual includes curriculum module slides and slide notes divided by tabs with learning objectives. Additionally, references, a glossary, and FSMA-specific information is included. Registration is required by February 28th in order to ensure each farm receives the manual prior to the course beginning.
All participants that attended the entire course (March 3, all 7 modules) are eligible to receive a certificate from AFDO that verifies they completed the training course. As this is a remote delivered course, participant engagement and attendance will be monitored by trainers throughout the training. This includes the need for access to high-speed reliable internet, a webcam turned during all the modules on the March 3 training, and a computer/laptop to participate in the Zoom sessions. Attendees will ONLY be eligible for an AFDO certificate of course completion if they attend and participate in all sessions on March 3.
On March 4th growers can join us for a day focused on writing their farm food safety plan. Trainers will be joined by NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets Farm Products inspectors to give guidance and input for farms in creating their farm food safety plans to meet the needs for a potential audit. At the conclusion of day two growers will have all components of their farm food safety plans outlined with the most critical pieces.
Day two is only for those who have previously attended a Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training or GAPs training. The price for both days includes a “Farm Food Safety Decision Tree”, worker training posters for use on the farm, and a flash drive pre-loaded to the farm food safety plan template, standard operating procedures, and log templates for use by the farm.Â
In order for a farm to participate, you must have the newer version of Microsoft Word loaded onto your computer, or be comfortable working within Google docs. We are utilizing Zoom for the training, you will need a high speed internet connection for smoothest participation experience. We also recommend a microphone to help in communication with both students and trainers.
Registration is limited to 30 farms each day, at a cost of $35/farm. Please be advised that refunds are not available. Registration is required by February 28th to ensure that mailing of manuals can occur in a timely fashion and that farms will receive them prior to the start of the training on March 3rd.
To register for this training, please click here. If you are uncertain whether the course is for you, you are welcome to contact Laura Biasillo at lw257@cornell.edu or (607) 584-5007.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County
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