Free Farm Food Safety Webinar Series with MOFGA

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardiners Association is hosting a series of free virtual produce farm food safety workshops. Throughout this series, Lindsay Werner of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry and Robson Machado of the Cooperative Extension will guide us through the information we need to build and implement food safety plans. We will start the series off with a virtual “farm tour.” If you are interested but would prefer to attend in-person at MOFGA headquarters in Unity please reach out to Anna Libby to express your interest.

Wednesday, April 9 from 5:00 to 6:00pm             

Converting An Old Dairy Barn into a New Wash/Pack
Elizabeth Keen from Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, MA will discuss the process of completely remodeling a 1930s dairy barn into an updated wash/pack, using funds from the MA Food Security and Infrastructure Grant.  Elizabeth has been managing the farm since 1997.  Indian Line has a 250 member CSA, one Saturday market and does some wholesaling to local restaurants and 1 upscale grocery store. Register

Monday April 14 from 5:00 to 6:30pm     

How to Build a Farm Food Safety Plan
This webinar is intended to prepare farms for a USDA AMS regular GAP audit, parts 1- 4. Auditor tips will be provided. We will review the food safety plan templates historically used in Maine as well as those listed on the Produce Safety Alliance website, some of which are for Harmonized audits. We’ll also look at a basic plan not intended to pass a GAP audit. REGISTER

Monday April 28 from 5:00 to 6:30pm     

Agricultural Water Assessment
This workshop is intended to prepare farms subject to the FSMA Produce Safety Rule for enforcement of the Finalized Agricultural Water Rule. The finalized rule requires annual inspection of the agricultural water system and assessment of pre-harvest agricultural water. All farms should know how to inspect and assess the safety of water used on the farm. Record templates will be shared. Water testing tips and tricks will be shared. REGISTER

Monday May 19 from 5:00 to 6:30pm       

Farm Food Safety How-to
This webinar is intended to introduce how food safety inspectors assess farms for hazards, the level of risk associated with those hazards, and potential hazard amplification. Most significant inspection observations are related to equipment, tools, buildings, and sanitation so the workshop will focus on these topics.REGISTER

Questions? Email alibby@mofga.org or call 207-568-4142