On-Farm Food Quality, Safety, Security, Defense & Biosecurity Program Training for Farm or Farm Linked Operations

• Education programs that increase awareness of product safety and quality;
• Required components of buyer contracts;
• Required commodity or brand initiatives to provide credibility to the product, and/or
• Existing or upcoming regulation requirements at the farm or further processing level.

Many of the these initiatives were funded by federal and provincial governments. Today as funding sources move to new issues or becomes limited, industry is increasingly under pressure to develop, implement and maintain these programs themselves. In order to survive in an increasingly competitive and tight profit margin environment, commodities must develop models that are cost effective and practical without compromising safety or quality standards. The majority of food safety, quality and security programs are based on the seven principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and ISO (International Organization for Standards) principles, and can with careful planning and development meet these needs.

Heightened security and biosecurity demands increase each time our industry's vulnerability is demonstrated in an outbreak or vandalism incident. Past biosecurity examples include the Mosaic Virus in tomatoes, Sudden Oak Death in Camellias, Foot and Mouth in the UK, BSE in Europe and North American, and most recently, Avian Flu in poultry in the Fraser Valley. Security breaches can be costly and damaging to the brand. Increasing awareness of your operation's risks and installing simple measures into daily activities reduces these risks.

1. Understand and apply their commodity's food protection programs;
2. Prepare and maintain written procedures to ensure such things as safe food handling, proper sanitation practices and tightened animal, plant and human traffic controls; and
3. Prepare and use records on an on-going basis to verify program requirements.

• Implementing one or a variety of food protection programs necessary to meet regulatory, market or business needs
• Integrating programs with existing or required assurance systems
• Developing or updating risk assessments
• Organizational assessments of farm operations and their industry interfaces to establish readiness for program application
• Basic concept training (e.g. science behind "clean", HACCP principles, auditing skills and how to effectively train adults)

• Basic Farm and Worker Hygiene
• Creating Positive Food Safety Cultures Within the Working Environment
• Introduction to HACCP and Good Agricultural Practices
• HACCP in Practice
• Securing Your Operation is Possible
• On-Farm Food Safety Auditing Skills
• Preparing and Using Records, Checklists and Standard Operating Principles Effectively
• Implementing Food Protection Programs that Work in all Languages and Cultures
• Custom Courses - designed for your specific needs

• One-On-One
• Group
• Classroom
• Hands-On
• Lunch-and-Learn
• Full Day or Week Workshops, Seminars or Conferences
• Distance learning - combination of mail, website, email and/or phone