Food safety oversight may be coming soon — possibly even this summer — to your farmers market, on-farm store, and even CSA. Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) certification is already required by some wholesale buyers and insurance companies. Now there is a growing movement to encourage small farmers to implement food safety plans wherever they sell.

Still to be determined is whether federal regulations will require food safety plans for producers nationwide. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue proposed regulations soon, followed by a comment period. (Growing for Market will keep you informed about FDA’s proposal and opportunities to comment. If we do not have your email address for receiving news updates, please go to www.growingformarket.com and sign up for them in the right-hand column where it says “Join our mailing list.”)

In the meantime, though, efforts are underway to educate farmers market managers about GAPs. The thought is that market managers should be talking to their vendors about food safety practices on the farm and at the market. GAPs procedures address potential contamination on the farm and post-harvest, but don’t have much to say about direct marketing. At that point, another set of standards known as Good Handling Practices becomes relevant. Food safety experts are concerned that even GAPs-certified farmers who bring safe food to market can have all their efforts undone by unsafe handling practices at the market. And the implications of an outbreak of food contamination can be far-reaching.

“People are very interested in local food and supporting local farmers, and that’s something we want to encourage,” said Julia Gaskin, Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator at the University of Georgia. “If there’s an incident where someone gets sick or worse, it could set the whole movement back. We need to be pro-active. There are real simple, straightforward things we can do to minimize the risk.”

Food safety plans
Food safety begins with an understanding of where contamination may occur. On the farm, GAPs spells that out in great detail, asking the farmer to document a long list of concerns such as the safety of irrigation water and wash water, hygiene training for employees, cleaning of harvest containers and wash stations, proper storage temperatures, and much more. Many resources are available to help growers create a food safety plan to avoid potential problems; see Resources at the end of this article.

In some cases, the food safety plan can be the basis for GAPs certification by a third-party auditor. As of this writing, GAPs certification is not required by law but it is becoming increasingly important to growers who want to sell to supermarkets, wholesalers, schools, hospitals, and aggregators/brokers. In some cases, the buyers are demanding GAPs certification; in others, insurance companies for buyers or for growers are requiring it.

Many growers who don’t intend to get certified as GAPs-compliant are nevertheless interested in creating food safety plans for their farms. Gaskin and Judy Harrison, Extension Foods Specialist at the University of Georgia, say they find many small growers are intimidated by GAPs. In conjunction with educators at Clemson and Virginia Tech, they have a USDA grant to create food safety materials for farmers market vendors and market managers.

Last year, the researchers surveyed market managers and found that most “don’t have any food safety plans in the farmers markets. They don’t ask any information about factors that could affect the safety of food coming into the market,” said Judy Harrison.

What should change?
The Georgia, Virginia, and South Carolina team has created a curriculum for market managers. They identify four areas where they suggest managers should be more involved in ensuring food safety:

• Vendor and farm worker health. Anyone who has had vomiting, diarrhea or jaundice should not be in contact with food for at least 24 hours after symptoms have gone away. In the case of jaundice, a signed medical release should be required. Anyone with cuts, burns, skin infections or sores should have them bandaged and protected with gloves.
 
• Hygiene. Handwashing stations should be available on the farms and at the market, and vendors should be taught proper handwashing. Managers are encouraged to post signs throughout the market encouraging customers to wash their hands before touching produce.

• Food display. Managers should make sure vendors regularly clean and sanitize their display surfaces and containers. Dogs and other animals should be banned from the market. Vendors should be educated about proper temperatures to keep food safe.

• Food sampling. Managers should enforce basic safety practices for samples such as sanitizing cutting boards and knives, using single service gloves to handle produce, providing toothpicks or other single service setups, keeping samples covered, and maintaining the proper temperature.

Other organizations have created similar materials for farmers market food safety. The Farmers Market Federation of New York has an extensive curriculum about food safety at farmers markets, on-farm markets, CSAs, and delivery services. Many of the guidelines are similar to those mentioned above, with some additional suggestions:

• Vendors should not be allowed to smoke in the market. Designated areas should be available for vendors to take a break, eat, and smoke.

• Live animals should be kept in a separate area of the market, and that area should have handwashing facilities and signs urging customers to wash hands before handling food.

• Vendors should supervise their displays and remove products that may be contaminated by sneezing, dirty hands, kids taking a bite. Signs should be posted encouraging consumers to wash their hands before handling fresh produce, and then rinsing it in cool water before it is consumed at home.

• Produce packaging including bags, boxes, and egg cartons should be new.

• Trucks and vans should be clean.

• Canopies or tents should be used to protect food from airborne contaminants.

Many farmers will no doubt dislike the idea of farmers markets adopting more rules. Some may think that foodborne illness at farmers markets is not a significant threat. While it is true that most foodborne disease outbreaks in the news occur at places other than farmers markets, it’s unrealistic to think it doesn’t happen at market.

“I don’t think you can say there haven’t been outbreaks from farmers markets,” Judy Harrison said. “We do know there have been outbreaks linked to farmers markets” such as cantaloupe in Colorado last year. “People have the impression that just because something is produced locally it’s not going to be a problem, and that’s just not true.  Any food that is mishandled can be a problem.

“When you think about the people who are shopping at farmers markets, it’s predominantly women with young children, elderly people, and people with pre-existing health conditions who are looking for healthier food. Those are the same audiences most at risk for foodborne illness or serious complications from foodborne illness.”
And, she adds, it takes only one contamination incident to harm the market for all vendors.

In contrast, having a food safety plan can be a marketing tool for markets and vendors. Promoters suggest posting signs around the market saying things like “We care about food safety…Wash your hands before touching food.” Vendors who have had food safety training or who are GAPs certified should post their certification and educational information about their practices.

At this time, food safety plans are still optional — and many hope that by policing themselves now, they can avoid mandatory regulations that will ultimately be more expensive and time-consuming.

Resources
Farmers Market Federation of New York has an extensive list of resources about GAPs and Good Handling Practices at market: www.nyfarmersmarket.com/food-safety/links.html

An online tool for creating a food safety plan for your farm is free at http://onfarmfoodsafety.org/

Kentucky Farmers Market Manual: http://www.kyagr.com/marketing/farmmarket/documents/FINAL2012-2013FarmersMarketManual.pdf