Produce Safety Training Sessions for Fruit and Vegetable Farmers

By Andre Salazar

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Safe Produce Program will host a produce safety training for fruit and vegetable farmers.

An in-person event will be held on Feb. 28, at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Webster County office in Fort Dodge, and a remote virtual event will be held on April 3, via Zoom.

Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved produce safety education for farmers growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables for human consumption with intent to enter the commercial market or public distribution.

“The training is suitable for commercial fruit and vegetable growers, home produce gardeners, and other produce enthusiasts to learn and understand produce safety as defined in the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule and Good Agricultural Practices standards,” said Andre Salazar, education extension specialist with the Safe Produce program at Iowa State

For commercial fruit and vegetable growers, the PSA Grower Training course satisfies the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement that “at least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration,” outlined in §112.22(c).

Home produce gardeners and produce enthusiasts will acquire the produce safety knowledge and practices to assure fruits and vegetables grown and harvested in their garden are safe for human consumption.   

The PSA Grower Training course event registration fee is $20 for Iowa fruit and vegetable producers and their employees and $120 for others. The fee includes course attendance, PSA Grower Training manual, and American Food and Drug Officials certificate of completion.

Registration for a PSA Grower Training course event can be found on the Iowa State University Safe Produce website in the “Events” tab. Select a preferred event and complete the online registration form and pay the registration fee with a credit card.

As a bonus, Iowa Farmers Union will provide a reimbursement opportunity for the PSA Grower Training registration fee. For additional reimbursement information, contact thexter@iowaframersunion.org.