This is the Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Manual, which is available for public use. The date after the tab name indicates the upload date. As revisions are made the dates will be updated to reflect a revised upload.
This manual covers harvest and preparation for market, curing root/tuber/bulb crops, packing house operations, packing and packaging materials, decay and insect control, temperature and relative humidity control, and more. The introduction to the manual starts: "The three main objectives of applying postharvest technology to harvested fruits and vegetables are: to maintain quality (...
Water is important in crop production because it is used in many activities such as irrigating, washing and cooling. Irrigation water can spread pathogens, microorganisms that cause disease in humans, such as Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7 and Cryptosporidium parvum (also known as "Crypto"). Every time contaminated water comes in direct contact with fruit or vegetables, there is a...
The Produce Safety Rule is one of the new federal food safety regulations written under the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and sprouts covered under this regulation includes only those that are 1) likely to be eaten raw, and 2) grown on farms with average annual produce sales of at least $25,000. Exemptions to the rule, where only certain parts of the...
Community Accreditation for Produce Safety (CAPS) is a program of the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association (VVBGA). CAPS is a voluntary, practical approach to documenting the use of practices that reduce food safety risks on farms that grow fresh produce. The CAPS advisory board of farmers and service providers has identified 18 practices that are required for accreditation. CAPS uses...
Access the Vermont Produce Program to understand your farm’s requirements under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, learn about Produce Safety Improvement Grants, or schedule an On-Farm Readiness Review.
This case study shows how one farm got ready for GAP certification by redesigning their pack shed.
This case study show cases how a growing farm creating a new pack shed, designing for room to expand in the future.
This case study profiles a farm that transformed a dairy barn into a warm and sunny, year round pack shed.
This case study profiles a farm that retrofit an existing building, turning it into an inexpensive pack shed.
This case study presents an example of a mobile pack shed, which the owners have used while working on leased land.
This case study reports on Edgewater Farm's open pack shed design. The pack shed was designed for both efficiency and FSMA compliance.
This case study summarizes building an open pack shed as an effective low cost, temporary solution for a beginning farm.
Handwashing has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of transmission of human pathogens between people. But, sometimes we are inconveniently far from the closest wash room and sink. Hand washing stations provide a portable means of washing hands on farms, at farmers’ markets, and at recreational sites. This guide was motivated by a desire to improve current...
This photo shows the Vermont Department of Health's water test kit
These are the photos of our Wash Room Greens Section
Produce Wash Room at the Boyd Family Farm
It can be easy to get portable hand washing in the field. Check out this design from NH Ext.
The Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market built these two handwashing stations to allow their customers access to handwashing facilities during the winter market. This is a variation of the handwashing station design available at the UVM Extension Agricultural Engineering page (http://go.uvm.edu/handwashingstation). The unique feature of this build is the use of insulated clean water supply...
We built and installed two hands-free hand wash "shelves" to mount on our harvest wagons (or any harvest vehicle).
This Fact Sheet contains an overview of currently available construction surfaces that can work well for post-harvest applications.
Taylor Hutchison and Jake Mendel own and operate Footprint Farm in Starksboro, VT. Starting their own farm in 2013, they now produce pretty much everything except storage potatoes and storage squash with 66 different kinds of vegetables grown in both fields and high-tunnels. Print and video case study formats available.
There are many options when it comes to constructing a walk-in cooler, cold room, or warm room for on-farm storage. The main goals for construction of any temperature and humidity controlled space are: Insulate the walls to provide for efficiency temperature control against a different outside temperature (which may be an warmer inside space)
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Produce wash sinks and tanks on vegetable farms consist of several different styles, designs, sizes, and uses. The needs vary from farm to farm but some features to consider are highlighted here.
Having water when and where you need it can make a big difference in vegetable wash station efficiency. This blog post captures some of the option for managing hoses in wash/pack buildings.
Disinfection is part of an overall sanitation and safety management program. Chlorination of process water is one of the primary elements of a properly managed postharvest sanitation program. In conjunction with an overall safety management program, chlorination is generally effective, comparatively inexpensive, and may be implemented in operations of any size.
Jericho Settlers Farm was awarded a Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Produce Safety Improvement Grant in the amount of $5,000 to purchase 85 plastic bulk bins to replace old wooden bins used for the harvesting and storing of crops. The bins purchased were MacroPlastics Hybrid 44P-FV.
Old Athens received a Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Produce Safety Improvement Grant to upgrade the farm's wash line by replacing two washing machines used to spin dry greens with a commercial food grade stainless spinner and upgrade draining areas by replacing wood and plastic surfaces with stainless steel. The stainless steel salad dryer was the Sammic ES-200 26lb model and...
We designed and built a 6 by 8 ft coolbot on a tight budget, and created a photo log of the build process. Our strategy was to fabricating an R-25 insulated box, out of 5 portable panels (minimalist…four walls and a ceiling) designed for easy disassembly/ relocation.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is transforming the nation’s food safety system by shifting the focus from responding to foodborne illness to preventing it. This website summarizes the rules.
This flow chart helps growers determine if they are covered by the FSMA Produce Safety Rule: Coverage and Exemptions/Exclusions for 21 PART 112.
This is an overview of the USDA GAPs requirements.
The UVM Agricultural Risk Management and Crop Insurance Education Program is a partnership between the University of Vermont and the United States Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency (USDA RMA). The goal of this program is to provide Vermont agricultural producers information about crop insurance resources and programs as a means to reduce production risk, revenue risk and to...
This is a summary of how to take take water samples, what tests to order, and why.
It takes about 20 seconds to wash and rinse your all hand surfaces. Thus at $12/hr, farmers will pay their employees about 10 cents each time they wash their hands ! This 2.5 minute video, showing the 10-cent hand wash, can be use to train farm employees.
Fact Sheet and summary of UVM Extension field-based research on E.coli in multiple dunk tanks in succession.
We wash double or triple wash leafy greens in clean solid green plastic crates that sit in the 100 gallon stock tank shown below. This wash line is on cement slab floor in our covered 3-sides wash shed, just in front of our main cooler. Plastic crates are dumped are filled with potable water from the red hose, and drained into the plumbed stock tank, which likewise drains into a holding sub-...
Overview of our CAPS washline SOP for leafy greens and root vegetables.
This fact sheet provides contact information for laboratories in Vermont and neighboring states that offer agricultural water testing services. These services can be used to comply with regulatory or audit programs that require growers to test their agricultural water for the presence of potentially harmful bacteria.
In later spring/ early summer of 2018, we tore down our existing packroom, which was a short shed room off the side of our barn on a ply wood floor. We brought in several loads stone to grade the site then poured a slab onto the existing footprint. We then rebuilt the space with a roofline that matched the existing barn's, which created a storage loft and a much more functional and plesant...
Silas Doyle-Burr is managing Last Resort Farm in Monkton, VT, taking over the operations from his parents on the farm he grew up at. The farm was purchased in 1987, and transitioned from dairy farming to vegetable production in 1993, and now grow 26 different crops split just about evenly retail vs. wholesale. The following link is a playlist of videos taken with Silas showcasing some of the...
This is the standard operating procedure for triple rinsing baby greens (baby lettuce, baby kale, baby arugula) on our farm. A triple baby stainless wash sink, stainless steel tables, and a washing machine modified to accomadate a salad spinner insert are used. Full step by step SOP written out in attached pdf document.
We built a new barn that houses a wash pack room, employee restroom, egg washing area and wood shop downstairs, and living space upstairs. The project required a new septic system, driveway, well, excavation, frost wall, and poured foundation. The approximate cost includes all of the site work and building construction, $45,000 to finish the living area, and a $36,000, 52 panel solar array that's...
We fill all 3 bays of the wash sink with cold potable water. Produce is placed in the left-most sink and submerged by pushing the material underwater a few times. Produce is then lifted from the sink and some of the water is shaken out before it is dropped into the center sink. It is again submerged and swished 2-3 times before being lifted out and placed into the final rinse in the right-most...
We harvest, pack and wash 2 days a week year-round at our farm in upstate New York. We have recently upgraded our wash station.
Wash station for salad greens is comprised of a triple wash system. Tubs are plastic and designed to be easily cleaned after use. Tubs are elevated off of pack house floor. Tubs are filled with potable water delivered through food grade plastic hose lines and wastewater is directed into floor drains to prevent pooling of water on floor.
We retro fitted about half of our 1950's dairy barn to be a year round wash and pack station. It hadn't housed cows since the 1980's and was in need of some TLC. First we demolished the interior, removing all the milking equipment, existing walls and opening up the space entirely. We then had to reinforce and rebuild the exterior walls and reside the barn as it was in worse shape than we had...
When relocating our farm, we built a brand-new single-story 30 X 60 ft mixed use shed—for wash/pack, storage, retail/CSA, and farm crew space. This single story, 1,800 sq. ft slab on grade is insulated and heated-with: • Trench drain • Large overhead doors with landing space inside • Bright cleanable walls • Cold storage • Slab with drilled "Techno Posts" saved $4,000 over traditional footings
Totes of raw-eaten produce, like spinach, are filled with water (first rinse). The spinach is then transferred to first dunk tank (second rinse). Spinach is then transferred to second dunk tank (third rinse). Other crops are cleaned similarly, with root crops being sprayed off between first and second rinse.
This project replaced an existing, outdoor, muddy produce washing and handing area with a portable structure with a covered wash area the farm's first cold storage unit. The original plan had been to configure a post and beam structure to include both a wash station and an insulated room that would be cooled with a coolbot controlled air conditioner. We later decided it would be cheaper and...
We use a large stainless steel basin (40gal) dedicated to washing raw eaten leafy greens and one stainless steel double bay sink (20gal each) dedicated to washing roots. Green are rinsed once in a sanitizer and spun dry in a washing machine.
CLEAN HARVEST CONTAINERS and TOOLS—We stack and store all plastic harvest containers and thoroughly wash harvest containers after use. CLEANABLE SURFACES—All surfaces that come in contact with produce are stainless steel steel mesh or non-porous plastic. The cement floor of wash station is in good condition and drains /dries easily. It is washed and swept after each use. REMOVE FIELD HEAT—...
We constructed a covered vegetable wash and pack facility on our produce farm. The new facility was added on to the back and side of our farm stand, which also houses our walk-in cooler and CSA pickup area. We hired a local carpenter and roofer to extend the roofline of the existing building to create a 20’x35’ covered wash area on the back of the building, and poured a concrete slab under this...
We wash raw-eaten greens like cut Lettuce or Spinach, in a 2 rinse system. Only the second rinse has sanitizer in it. We spin them dry and pack them, 4 lbs to a case, in boxes with plastic bags liners.
Heron Pond Farm SoP for Double Washing Greens
Practical Produce Safety (PPS) is a cost-effective strategy for growers to implement food safety practices that minimize risk while maximizing produce quality and farm profitability. UVM Extension’s Practical Produce Safety Curriculum and these materials were designed specifically for small produce farms that primarily direct market their produce through CSA’s, farm stands, farmers markets, or...
Cleaning and sanitizing are part of an overall food safety plan to provide the safest and best quality fresh fruits, vegetables, greens, and herbs to customers. Checklists, standard procedures, and schedules are typically the best ways to communicate information to employees and document that proper cleaning and sanitizing practices are followed. This fact sheet includes suggested checklists,...
This collection of articles covers information and resources needed to meet Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) standards specific for the mushroom industry.
We have an automated wash station, consisting of a feed conveyor, soft bristle brushes with spray nozzles using well water, drying conveyor, and rotating sorting/grading table.
This was a two-part conversion/renovation of a large former dairy barn—first the barn frame, exterior, and electric wash renovated, second, the basement was converted to an wash/pack/storage area and third, a mid-floor CSA/ Farm store was added. The two floors were connected by stairs, as well as a hand powered dumb waiter.
