LOCAL FARMER

iative to help small farmers to successfully participate in markets that increasingly demand truly local produce with knowledgeable food safety in mind. Local Farmer drives its participants to succeed by offering incredible learning experiences, each tailored for the small farmer and local food safety inspector. The participating local farmer will receive in-depth and user-friendly training by University Extensions and other organizations spanning the United States, as well as the ability to document their progress on the Local Farmer website and Progress Tracker mobile application. The five steps include: completing food safety program training, developing personalized food safety manuals and implementing good agricultural practices, performing a self-assessment, and acquiring first a food safety plan verification, and ultimately a certificated third party audit. A pivotal piece of the Local Farmer Food Safety Initiative is the vast network of Regional Independent Inspectors trained in cooperation with organizations, including but not limited to, participating State Departments of Agriculture. Strengthening regional networks of independent auditors will help to bridge the gap by making necessary verification audits more affordable and more readily accessible to participants. Participating Local Farmer procurers will be able to make use of a user-friendly mobile application as well as an in-depth website feature that will display all participating farmers, defined as “local farmer" within the initiative, meaning product moves from farm to end user within a 275 mile radius. Lastly, the procurers and the farmers alike will have access to multiple online social networks built and nourished by the Local Farmer Food Safety Initiative to continuously expand the reach of its impact as well as the reach of participants. Another integral piece of the initiative is the management of data produced by local farmers and auditors through platforms developed by Azzule Systems. Such data will supply University Extensions, State Departments of Agriculture, and other participants with the tools to improve farmer and auditor performance through the use of statistical calibration. Training and collaboration for the Local Farmer Food Safety Initiative have already begun and primary implementation is planned for the Fall of 2013. We are confident that this initiative will build strong networks that will connect hundreds of thousands of people with one another within the first two years alone, as well as power a great wave of fresh, local produce across the United States. We share this confidence with a growing number of food safety and produce industry leaders. For more information and to become involved with the Local Farmer Food Safety Initiative, please contact Debra Garrison at (805)922-0055 ext. 133 or [email protected], or contact Katie Novo at (805)922-0055 ext. 132 or [email protected].