Summer is normally a time of farmer’s markets and roadside produce stands. It is also a time when you see more locally grown produce in your grocery retailers. Producers of every size are selling their goods to a public who cannot get enough of that fresh from the garden or field taste.
Before you just set up your stand and market your products, there are several things you need to be concerned about. Food safety is just one of those areas. It doesn?t matter if you have a large farm operation which supplies grocers or you are selling melons and tomatoes at the farmers? market, you owe it to your customers to be up to date on the best practices.
Audio: Full Interview with Dr. Robert Whitaker of Fresh Ed Academy.
There is a new online training course from the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) called Fresh Ed Academy. Dr. Robert Whitaker is a former Chief Scientist & Technology officer with the PMA. He tells us a little about the program.
Whitaker says that safety training is important because, without fail, there are outbreaks of food-born diseases that are traced back to their sources, and the PMA is trying to educate producers to keep that from happening to them. The program has a good foundation on the basics.
The program is built to educate employees at all levels of the company, based on the jobs they are doing. Dr. Whitaker talks about the classes for those people who are the everyday handlers of produce. He says it goes beyond just training an individual. Training wears off, education lasts a lifetime.
Educational programs are available all the way up the chain to the business owners and executives. It really brings a well-rounded program to the entire workforce, no matter if you are CEO of a company, or the owner and the workforce rolled into one uniform.
Upon completion of the program, workers will receive a certification of their completion of the Fresh Ed Academy course. Dr. Whitaker talks about what the certification will mean for your business in the marketplace and the edge it can give you with your consumers. Having the backing of the Produce Marketing Association will add another layer of legitimacy to your education.
If you are worried about the investment of time into the program, Dr. Whitaker says the courses are short and easy to do on your mobile devices, tablets, or computers. You can complete the training on your schedule.
We have only begun to scratch the surface of what the Fresh Ed Academy program can do to benefit your produce business. You can learn more about the class, by logging on to https://freshed.academy. I also encourage you to learn more by listening to my full interview with Dr. Whitaker at the top of this page.
