Developing a Farm Food Safety Manual is essential towards becoming GAP/GHP or Harmonized GAP certified. Many farms also find the process to be instrumental in refining harvesting and post-harvest systems, through reducing risk and standardizing procedures. This particular workshop on March 11, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, will cover key aspects of developing a customized food safety manual for your farm that complies with the USDA Harmonized GAP standards for field, harvest and post-harvest operations.
Workshop presenter Lindsay Gilmour is the owner of Organic Planet LLC and an experienced GAP Food Safety Educator. Co-presenter Jeff Stoltzfus is a GAP and Food Safety Manual specialist with Penn State Extension. Over the course of this training, the presenters will guide participants step by step through the food safety manual development process. Participants will be provided with templates for a customized manual – including a food safety plan, risk assessments, standard operating procedures, and logs. Questions will be encouraged. Overall, there will be a focus on streamlining your plan and your record keeping, and designing an efficient program.
With the increased national attention on food safety, and buyers’ insurers’ concerns about liability, we expect that more and more buyers will be asking growers about their food safety plans.
–University of Vermont Cooperative Extension
Increasingly, certifications such as Harmonized GAP are becoming requisite for entry into certain markets. Such certifications are even becoming marketable labels, in some instances. These developments, combined with the gradual implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act over the next number of years, suggest that farms at a commercial scale would be well served to at least be familiar with what a Farm Food Safety Manual is, and what purpose it can serve.
This workshop at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center begins at 10am and ends at 4pm. Lunch is included in the registration fee. Event coordinator Aaron de Long can be reached at (484) 680-3778. More information and event registration can be found here.