September 2020 - 22

FOOD SAFETY
Rutgers' On-Farm Food Safety Program recognized
By Rutgers University
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
faculty and staff from the Rutgers
On-Farm Food Safety Program
received national recognition for their
efforts and are being awarded the
Distinguished Team Award for 2020
for the Northeast Region from Epsilon
Sigma Phi (ESP), the honorary
fraternity for cooperative Extension
professionals.
The team is led by Cumberland
County agricultural agent Wesley Kline,
along with Mercer County agricultural
agent Meredith Melendez, and senior
program coordinator Jennifer Matthews.
The Distinguished Team Award is
designed to recognize outstanding efforts
of Extension staff teams for responding
to and incorporating into a specific
educational program one or more critical
issues. Critical issues may be defined by
local, regional, state or national need.
" Our outreach and programmatic
efforts have been in support of New
Jersey farmers, to see that these efforts
are deemed as notable by ESP is an
honor, " Melendez said in a news release.
Production of fresh produce has been
historically unregulated for microbial
PSR) was signed into law in 2011.
Implementation began in 2018, with
an estimated 614 farms in New Jersey
needing to comply with the rule.
To respond to this identified need,
the Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety team
was formed to provide educational
outreach to New Jersey fresh produce
growers. A robust educational training
program focusing on a diversity of fresh
produce operations is offered statewide
to help maintain a viable agricultural
economy in New Jersey. Full day
workshops, webinars, twilight meetings,
newsletters, and blog posts are used to
reach a diverse farmer audience.
Outreach activities have been tailored
The Rutgers University On-Farm Food
Safety Program has been honored for its
efforts. Photo: Rutgers University
safety. Large scale foodborne disease
outbreaks led to the industry requesting
intervention from the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) regarding food
safety practices on farms growing
produce typically consumed raw. The
Federal Food Safety Modernization
Act Produce Safety Rule (FSMA
to three types of produce growers: food
safety principals for non-regulated
produce growers; certificate-based
training for USDA Third Party Audit
compliance; and FDA approved training
for compliance with the FSMA PSR. The
objective of this outreach is to educate
fresh produce growers on microbial
risks found on their farms, provide
them with the tools to reduce the
identified risks and provide certificatebased
training.
Since 2015 the team has held 33
certificate trainings with an audience
of 1043 produce growers. These
trainings provide the growers with
human pathogen risk reduction best
practices and the required training
needed for market access and regulatory
requirements. The team partners
with the New Jersey Department of
Agriculture, the National Association
of State Departments of Agriculture,
the Northeast Center to Advance Food
Safety, and other Extension educators
and specialists from outside Universities.
The 2020 awards were originally
scheduled to be bestowed at the
2020 ESP conference in Rochester,
New York in October, however, the
in-person conference was cancelled
due to COVID-19 travel restrictions
and instead is being held as a virtual
conference on the same dates, Oct. 6-8.
ESP represents Extension agents
in 4-H, agriculture and resource
management, family and consumer
health sciences, and environment and
natural resources, and is dedicated to
fostering standards of excellence in the
Extension system and developing the
Extension profession. The awards pay
tribute to Extension professionals who
have exhibited leadership and excellence
in Extension programming. FGN
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22 | FruitGrowersNews.com
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September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2020
