Food safety training

    What does one learn at a food safety training? It turns out that a food safety plan, at least as designed by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, is a great deal of common sense punctuated by an occasional “Huh!” Many of the stipulations are exactly what you would expect…careful storage and use of pesticides, sound manure management plans, formalized training of employees regarding hygiene and safe operation of equipment, clear and detailed record keeping for all aspects of the farm. Areas in which food is handled must have impermeable surfaces that can be cleaned and disinfected, water from wells must be tested regularly, and storage areas including refrigerators and freezers should be clean and operating as the manufacturer intended.     MOFGA member Russell Libby made some smart CYA (cover your … ahem … assets) suggestions like using batch numbers on value-added products so that “an issue” would not result in a necessary destruction of all saleable merchandise, wearing gloves to handle and package food, and limiting customer access to fields and gardens (apparently our government agencies have no recognition of what a fabulous family experience pick-your-own farms can offer.) Participants from each farm received a certificate confirming his or her completion of the Farm Food Safety Program.
    Of course, the quickest and easiest way for a consumer to determine if the best practices for food safety are being applied assiduously does not come from government regulation or certifications at all. It comes from knowing the producer and making purchases from an individual with whom you can have a conversation and who is directly responsive to your concerns. It comes from purchasing foodstuffs from an individual fully vested in producing safe, flavorful, fresh products that he or she eats at home. A number of those someones who serve their own families the goods they offer for sale, are found every Saturday morning at the Presque Isle Farmers Market found in the parking lot at the Aroostook Centre Mall. Stop by!
    Editor’s note: This weekly column is written by members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. For more information or to join, contact their secretary/treasurer Steve Miller of Westmanland at 896-5860 or via e-mail at beetree@xpressamerica.net