Upcoming Discussions
- Listening sessions for NCR partners (educators, regulators, non-profit staff, and growers/processors) happen the third Thursday of each month at 2:00 pm, Central time. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed during these session or would like to lead a discussion, we would like to hear from you. Contact us for call-in details or to submit a suggested topic at: NCRFSMA@iastate.edu.
- Past Sessions- find recordings and the chat in the NCR CyBox. Don't have access? Contact Ellen.
| Aug 18 | Developing Food Safety Plans for Processors by Byron Chaves |
| Sept 15 | Andy Chamberlin, University of Vermont |
| Oct 20 | Validating Critical Paramenters for Juice Processors by Kathiravan Krishnamurthy |
| Nov 17 | Loran Nordgren, tentatively scheduled: As a behavioral scientist, his research explores the psychological forces that propel and prevent the adoption of new ideas and actions. |
| Dec 17 | No Listening Session in December, as the third Thursday coincides with the NASDA Consortium. |
Additional Funding Available
Are you working on a food safety project, and you need additional funds to:
- Provide honorarium for a speaker at a food safety program
- Provide print-outs at a food safety program
- Provide demonstrations for food safety programs
- Modify existing food safety materials
- Translate materials into another language;
- Sponsor registration for an underserved produce industry member to be trained and/or
- Supplies to host a Produce Safety Alliance or Preventive Control for Human Food or food safety program?
Please reach out to the NCR FSMA Center as we have funding to support these food safety efforts. You can apply using this form.
Trainer Sharing Program
Are you short a trainer for your class? Do you need someone to fill in for a couple of modules? We can help. The Center has funds to help bring in trainers to your state to ensure every farmer has an equal chance to attend a class near them. Contact Ellen for details. Each state can apply for one trainer sharing stipend per year (unless no one else requests one and then states can apply for additional funding at the end of the budget year).
Application Form
Funding is available to support sending a lead trainer of the Produce Safety Alliance grower training, Preventive Controls Human Food training, or other food safety certified program training in the absence of lead trainers.
Three travel stipends (up to $500) will be available each year. All funds are distributed on a first come, first served basis. States can apply for one stipend per year (Sept through Aug). If additional funds are available in July, states may apply for additional funding.
Funding can be requested for a niche population training, but not for an individual company.
Professional Development Travel Funds
In support of professional development, we are offering six stipends (up to $500 each) for educators and inspectors to travel to state (cannot be in your employment state), regional, and national produce safety conferences for professional development. You will be expected to have goal for your travel and report back impacts after the travel. Use this form to apply for the program. All funds are distributed on a first come, first served basis. Exact details are listed in the program guidelines. Each state can apply for one professional development stipend per budget year (unless it's close to the end of the year and no other states have applied).
professional_development_travel_funds.pdf
Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Evaluations
The NCR FSMA Center is not collecting pre- and post-knowledge assessments for trainings after June 30, 2022. Contact us for information if you would like us to set up a Qualtrics form, for your own evaluation projects.
Reports
The evaluation team at the NCR FSMA analyzed the results of the pre- and post-test knowledge assessments from July through June of each year. The results are found below.
Summer 2020 results
Summer 2018 results
One year after participants completed a PSA course, the NCR FSMA asked them to report on the changes they had made on their farms. You can read the entire report and the executive summary below.
- 2021 Full Report
- 2021 Executive Summary
- 2019 Full Report
all_states_results_12_month_follow_up_survey_2019_final.pdf - 2019 Executive Summary
executive_summary_12_month_follow_up_survey_2019.pdf
Training Needs
This list of needed training was developed at the 2019 NCR FSMA Annual Conference. Existing trainings, journal articles, and Extension fact sheets that might help fill those needs are included.
training_needs_and_where_to_find_them.pdf
This work is supported by the Food Safety Outreach Program [grant no. 2018-70020-28877 and grant no. 2021-70020-35732] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.