Produce - Preharvest

California Dept. of Agriculture's Produce Safety Program (2018)

Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) Supporting family farms and their communities.

• A Farmer's Guide to Conservation and Food Safety - Facts, Tips, and FAQ, October 2017 (PDF 853 KB)
• Fact Sheets and Food Safety Plan Templates
• Postharvest Resources, including videos subtitled in Spanish (click on CC in YouTube links)
• Workshops and Events Schedule Food Safety Training Schedule
• Webinars for Growers and Organic Professionals Past trainings from 2017.

On-Farm Food Safety Project
This website includes a free online tool which generates customized on-farm food safety plans based on user input. The tool is designed for use by small to mid-scale fruit and vegetable growers and provides a full set of record keeping tools to document food safety programs.

Produce Safety Alliance (Cornell University)
The Produce Safety Alliance was established at Cornell University with funding from the USDA and FDA.  The Alliance has developed a nationwide curriculum, the National Good Agricultural Practices Program, to increase understanding of the principles of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and to facilitate the implementation of food safety practices on fresh fruit and vegetable farms and in packinghouses.  Includes educational materials - posters, booklets, photonovels, magnets, etc. in English, Spanish, and other languages.  

UC Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Several publications on the key points of control and management of microbial food safety as part of the management plan of good agricultural practices for produces, handlers and processors of edible horticultural crops.

Produce Safety Rule and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

• "Rarely Consumed Raw" - (FDA Fact Sheet) (PDF 160 KB)

Agricultural Water 

Commodity-Specific Food Safety Information

Aquaponics

• Aquaponics Association
• Aquaponics - California Aquaculture (UC Davis, 2012) (PDF 328 KB)
• Aquaponics in Hawaii (University of Hawaii, 2013) (PDF 1.1 MB)
• Aquaponics in Hawaii Conference, May 2013 (Downloadable PDF Presentations on page) 
• Fox, B.K., C.S. Tamaru, J. Hollyer, L.F. Castro, J.M. Fonseca, M. Jay-Russell, and T. Low. October 2012.  A Preliminary Study of Microbial Water Quality Related to Food Safety in Recirculating Aquaponic Fish and Vegetable Production Systems.  Food Safety and Technology FST-51. (PDF 1.6 KB)

Berries

• Food Safety White Paper, (National Berry Crops Initiative, 2009)
• GAPs for Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry and Blueberry (NCSU, 2002) 408 KB)

Cantaloupe

• FDA Guidance for Industry: Letter to Firms that Grow, Harvest, Sort, Pack, Process, or Ship Fresh Cantaloupe, Nov. 2011
• FDA Guidance for Industry: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Melons; Draft Guidance, July 2009
• FDA Industry Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Melon Supply Chain - 1st Edition, Nov. 2005 (PDF 296 KB)
• Growth, Reduction, and Survival of Bacteria on Melon Types (University of Florida Extension, 2012) (PDF 2.2 MB)
  
• Microbiological Safety of Fresh and Fresh-Cut Melons - A Bibiography (University of Maryland, 2009) (PDF 39 KB)

Citrus

• GAPs for the Florida Citrus Grower: Understanding the Principles of Good Agricultural Practices (University of Florida Extension, 2012) (PDF 566 KB)

Controlled Environment

• Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (The University of Arizona)
• Greenhouse and High Tunnel Resources (University of California Cooperative Extension, 2011) (PDF 546 KB)
• Hydroponic/Greenhouse Crops (University of Florida Extension)

Culinary Herbs

• FDA Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production, Harvest, Post-Harvest, and Processing Unit Operations of Fresh Culinary Herbs, Jan. 2013 ( PDF 2.06 MB)

Green Onions

• FDA Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production, Harvest, Post-Harvest, and Valued-Added Unit Operations of Green Onions, Feb. 2010 (PDF 2.01 MB)

Leafy Greens

• Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement - Food Safety Practices - English & Spanish, Aug. 2011
• California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement - Food Safety Practices - English & Spanish, Aug. 2013
• Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Lettuce and Leafy Greens Supply Chain - Final Edition, August 2013 (PDF 651 KB)
• FDA Guidance for Industry: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Leafy Greens; Draft Guidance, July 2009
• Leafy Greens Food Safety Research (Herndon, VA, September 20-21, 2007) (PDF 53 KB)
• Microbiological Safety of Leafy Green Vegetables - A Bibliography (University of Maryland, Sept. 2009) (PDF 174K)

Mangos

• Mango.org (National Mango Board)

Tomatoes

• FDA Guidance for Industry: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Tomatoes; Draft Guidance - July 2009
• Growth, Reduction, and Survival of Bacteria on Tomatoes (University of Florida Extension) (PDF 969 KB)
• Industry Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain - 2nd Edition, July 2008
• Microbiological Safety of Tomatoes and Tomato Products - A Bibliography (PDF 64K)
• Outbreaks of Foodborne Disease Associated with Tomatoes (University of Florida Extension) (PDF 723 KB)
• Tomato Safety Research Needs Workshop (JIFSAN-UF/IFAS February 21-22, 2007) (PDF, 1.9 MB)

Co-Management of Food Safety and Sustainability

Emergencies

• Disposition of Food From Flood-Affected Crops
  o    Letter to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture September 16, 2011
  o    Letter to State Agriculture Departments/Agencies September 27, 2011
• Guidance for Industry: Evaluating the Safety of Flood-affected Food Crops for Human Consumption (FDA)
• A Notice to Growers, Food Manufacturers, Food Warehouse Managers, and Transporters of Food Products About the Safety of Food Affected by Hurricanes, Flooding, and Power Outages (FDA)
• Guidance for Industry: A Notice to Growers, Food Manufacturers, Food Warehouse Managers, and Transporters of Food Products on Decontamination of Transport Vehicles (FDA)
• A Notice to Growers, Food Manufacturers, Food Warehouse Managers, and Transporters of Food Products on How to Dispose of Contaminated Food (FDA)

GAPs Information Sites - Other Non-UC Sources

• California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement
• Cornell University - National Good Agricultural Practices Program
• Florida Tomato GAPs
• Leafy Greens Guidance (Western Growers Association)
• On-Farm Food Safety This Penn State University website outlines four steps to safer farm practices.

GAPs Training Opportunities

Online GAPS Course:

• GAPs Online Produce Safety Course Sponsored by Cornell University.
  (See the Online Course home page for the most current course offering and more information.)     
  

Management of Soil Amendments

• The Dos and Don'ts of Dairy Manure Management (California Dairy Quality Assurance Program) (PDF 1.02 MB)
• Managing Manure Applications  (Sacramento Valley BMP Handbook) (PDF 2.3 MB)
• US Composting Council
• Test Methods for the Examination of Composting and Compost (US Composting Council)
• Principles for Preparing Water Quality Objectives in British Columbia (Publication of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. Government of British Columbia, CN. Marr, B. 2001.) (PDF 283 KB)

Other Links

• Bibliography: Food Safety for Perennial Fruit Crops 06-08 (PDF 57 KB)
• Bibliography: General Food Safety Related to Tree Crops 06-08 (PDF 39 KB)
• Bibliography:  Tree Crop Food Safety 06-08 (PDF 95 KB)
• The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Model Code for Produce Safety
  
• Council on Agriculture, Science and Technology (CAST), Food Safety and Fresh Produce: An Update
  

Wildlife / Pest Management

• Roof rats in orchards (UCANR)