MSU Extension Agrifood Safety

Landen Tetil
Produce Safety Technician

Produce farms commonly write and update their food safety plan outside of the main growing season, when time is less scarce and production has slowed. Testing out components of your food safety plan mid-season can identify weak spots and help strengthen on-farm food safety.

If you have a written food safety plan, then you probably spent a considerable amount of time and energy writing that food safety plan for your farm. You may have even sought outside help in crafting your plan, such as from a Produce Safety Technician. But have you ever tested your plan and the procedures in it? The list of things to put in a food safety plan can seem endless, and it is easy enough to get caught up in lists of policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) while losing sight of the big picture of on-farm food safety. SOPs are great, but they only work when they make sense to everyone who tries to read and follow them!

Bottom line: If you got sick tomorrow and had to temporarily hand off the day-to-day responsibilities to an employee or other trusted individual, would your food safety plan be strong enough to ensure things got done as they should, when they should?

Ask yourself these questions to see if your food safety plan can stand up to the test.

1. Who is trained?

Who is trained, and how can I tell if my worker training is working? What indicators can I use to determine a well-trained worker? An example may be the cleanliness of daily use equipment, the state of the wash-pack, or the presence of pests in produce areas.

2. What is in your plan?

What is written in my food safety plan, and does it match what I am currently doing on the farm? Are my policies, procedures, and SOPs up-to-date and easily understood? Do my workers know where to access the food safety plan? Do I keep the required records in my plan or elsewhere on the farm? Do my workers know where and when to access these records?

3. Where do you sell?

Where are our sales markets? What are those buyer contacts, and where are they listed? Do my workers know who to call if there is an issue?

4. When does produce leave the farm?

When do we make deliveries or go to market? Which days and times? Which commodities, and how much? How do I keep track of sales and inventories?

5. Why does food safety matter?

Why should my workers care about food safety and the policies and SOPs I have created to help protect food safety on the farm? Have I created a food safety culture and worker buy-in on my farm so that my workers will take it seriously?

And, one last bonus question:

6.How can I improve?

How can I fill the gaps or weak spots in my food safety plan? Have I worked with a Produce Safety Technician for extra support?