Co-existing in Your Farming Community While Navigating the Complex World of Produce Food Safety

CONTACT's PRODUCE SAFETY WEBINAR SERIES, SEASON 2, WEBINAR 16
Title: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”: Co-existing in Your Farming Community While Navigating the Complex World of Produce Food Safety
Description: Dr. Michele Jay-Russell (University of California, Davis) shares her experiences and highlights case studies of the grass roots efforts to promote farmer-to-farmer communication in the context of produce food safety. Since January 2021, the agricultural community in the Salinas Valley, California has come together in an effort known as California Agricultural Neighbors (CAN). CAN builds on lessons learned from the local level where appropriate management of potential foodborne pathogen risks associated with adjacent land use (e.g., cattle operations, vineyards, composters, hobby farms, etc.) was discussed. In recent years, several E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce were traced to major leafy green growing regions in California. Environmental investigations by FDA identified adjacent land uses-including nearby cattle grazing-as possible contributing factors in the spread of STEC to romaine lettuce, but the specific mechanism(s) of transport remains elusive. Livestock ranches and fresh produce farms in California are among the most highly regulated commodities in the country, but confusion often exists about what each community does to assure food safety. “Co-management” of food safety risks and natural resources surrounding wildlife and their habitat is a well-known and successful approach in produce food safety. However, best approaches to support the continued “co-existence” of multiple diverse farming systems on adjacent agricultural lands presents unique challenges and opportunities ~ this webinar will explore those! Reminder: the live Q&A is not recorded. This is part of the Produce Safety Webinar Series by CONTACT (Season 2).
Funding: This work is supported by the Specialty Crops Research Initiative 2020-51181-32157 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this recommendation are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Host: Dr. Laura Strawn (Virginia Tech)