The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Produce Safety Program is partnering with the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork to provide Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training Courses July 22-23 and Sept. 23-24 at no cost to California Farm to School Network produce growers and handlers. The free training also is open to all interested California produce growers and handlers.

The PSA Grower Training Course covers Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule requirements that set food safety standards for the production of fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts. It also covers good agricultural practices for the enhanced safety of fresh, nutritious and wholesome produce supplied to local schools and communities across the state. Course completion fulfills the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement that “at least one supervisor or responsible party from your farm must have successfully completed food safety training equivalent to that received under a standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.”

Click here to view a Produce Safety Rules! blog for further details and to register for the course.

CDFA’s California Farm to School Network endeavors to source school meals from regional farms and educate students about food to ensure California students have access to fresh, nutritious, locally sourced produce. This initiative is an interagency, multi-pronged effort to reimagine school meals while benefitting students, the environment, local farmers and local economies. CDFA’s Produce Safety Program (PSP) conducts on-farm inspections on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to verify FSMA Produce Safety Rule compliance. PSP’s “educate before and while we regulate” goal helps California produce growers and handlers understand enhanced produce safety practices.