Author: Annette Heisdorffer
Planning Unit: Daviess County CES
Major Program: Farmer's Markets
Plan of Work: Leadership and Community Development
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Since fresh fruits and vegetables are often consumed raw or with little processing, producing them safely by avoiding contamination by microorganisms that cause food borne illnesses is important. To help growers continue to keep the produce safe, the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Agent for Horticulture Education taught the science-based Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training to members of the farmers’ market. The training topics covered included proper methods for using manure as a soil amendment, personal hygiene, water source, and cleaning surfaces touching produce during harvesting and preparation for the market. Three years after attending the GAP training, 15 growers reported through a written survey that 100% of them adopted at least two good agricultural practices that they had not been conducting before the training. Other results from the survey are as follows: 73% adopted washing their hands before harvesting produce; 73% adopted cleaning their work surface properly before handling and preparing the produce for the market; 67% adopted proper hand washing techniques; and 67% adopted the practice of surveying the production field before planting to avoid microbial contamination of the produce from manure piles, animal production areas, and septic systems.
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