Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell Vegetable Team, Cornell Lake Ontario Fruit Team and Cornell National GAPs Program along with assistance from NYS Dept. Ag. & Markets, will be presenting farm food safety training – GAPs (including Harmonized GAPs) in 2013. These workshops are funded through a grant by the Genesee Valley Regional Marketing Authority.
A new program, Harmonized GAPs, has been developed to combine several food safety certifications into one program. New York’s retail produce buyers are asking growers to adopt Harmonized GAPs certification in many cases. In response, Cornell National GAPs Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension have developed a multi-day workshop.
The first day of training will focus on the details of what GAPs is, how it works and what it means for a farming operation. The second day will be devoted to helping participants write a food safety plan as required for audit certification. A laptop computer is required for the second day.
Cost is $60 for two days for one person. If you are bringing one to two additional people, add $10 for each to cover lunch. Program runs 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days:
•January 15 – 16 to be held at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Food Research Lab Room 251, 630 West North Street, Geneva. The focus will be on berries but all fresh produce growers are invited.
•January 30 – 31 to be held in Mt. Morris at the Livingston County Highway Department, 4389 Gypsy Lane, Mt. Morris, NY 14510 – the focus will be on potatoes, but all fresh produce growers are welcome to attend.
•February 7 – 8 to be held in Batavia at the Fire Training Center, 7690 State Street Road, Batavia, NY 14020 – general GAPs training for all produce growers.
Register online at http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu or mail in registration form and payment to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County, Attn: Angela Parr, 480 N. Main Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424. Make checks payable to: “Cornell Cooperative Extension.”
For other information, contact Craig Kahlke at cjk37@cornell.edu (585) 735-5448 or Robert Hadad at rgh26@cornell.edu (585) 739-4065.
