NC Fresh Produce Safety’s 10-Point Checklist for Transportation

This checklist provides guidance in looking at preloading and loading conditions prior to transporting produce transportation-10-point-checklist

NSF Davis Fresh’s Farm Evaluation

This evaluation walks through possible scenarios which a third party auditor may encounter on a GAPs certification audit and provides possible solutions to the issues. NSF Davis Fresh Farm-Ranch Audit Checklist-1

Frequently Asked Questions from Farms going through GAPs Audit

Q1: What measures can be taken to deter animals from fields?  If we see evidence of animals or the physical presences of animals, what are acceptable actions? What can we do about deterring animals in the pack house (birds, etc)?    A1: a sample food safety plan has been put together to help growers navigate [...]

Three farms who participated in the NC Fresh Produce Safety Initiative

Below you will find three case studies documenting North Carolina farmers’s experiences who have participated in the NC Fresh Produce Safety Initiative. The following farms are of varying sizes and represent various commodities. By attending GAPs training these farms  prepared for certification and also strengthened their ability to respond to market demands, food safety costs, [...]

Mock Audit Video taking a Small Farm through a GAPs Audit

This project received funding from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. Here is an educational video directed at small growers.  We held a mock  audit at  CEFS in 2010  and placed it into this video showing some typical areas  of concerns for small farms that are wanting to get GAPs certified. The video can easily be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ws1C_mmx24 For [...]

GAPs Worker Training Requested by Growers

GAPs Worker Training Requested by Growers  This project received funding from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.  Non-English speaking employees represent the majority of North Carolina’s farm labor force. Growers have requested a versatile and easily adaptable training tool that can be used during their informal morning meetings to continually educate their workforce with language appropriate [...]

Direct Market Display Checklist

Risks include Produce Safety and Liability issues.  In this document  is a list of risk factors and best management practices to consider.   For each question, indicate your risk level in the right-hand column. Although some choices may not correspond exactly to your situation, choose the response that best fits. direct-market-checklistncmarketready

What is GAPs and How do I get started?

What is GAPs and How do I get started This document defines what Good Agricultural Practices are and offers advice on where to begin.

The Spread of Superbugs

Nicholas Kristof’s article featured in The New York Times looks at the presence of antibiotics within our food system.  He notes that “more antibiotics are fed to livestock in North Carolina along than are given to humans in the U.S.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/opinion/07kristof.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

NC Fresh Produce Safety Initiative Presentation- CFSA Sustainable Ag. Conference

This power point was presented by Diane Ducharme  on December 2nd 2010 at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA)’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference held in Winston-Salem, NC.  Introduction to Fresh Produce Safety_Dec_2010