August 2014 – NC Growing Together, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) will be offering workshops aimed at providing farmers with the tools to reduce food safety risks and meet market requirements.
The two-part Fresh Produce Good Agricultural Practices Workshop Series combines classroom and on-farm instruction to provide producers with the tools needed to identify potential food safety concerns, strategies to minimize potential contamination, and direct assistance to producers in completing a fresh produce safety plan.
Workshops begin in September in Pender County. For more information, contact Trish Tripp or register online at www.carolinafarmstewards.org.
NC Growing Together and the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program (SSARE PDP) are co-sponsoring a webinar on September 4 for produce farmers, extension agents, and other farm service providers.
During Local Foods – Understanding Packaging & Specifications for Wholesale Markets, expert panelists will guide attendees through pack size requirements, quality and specifications; explain how and why specifications may differ in wholesale markets; and explain how a grower may better communicate with a buyer. There will also be a detailed discussion of labeling requirements for producers selling to retail grocers, including how to acquire PLU/UPC codes.
The webinar be held on September 4 from 10-11:30 am and is FREE. For more information please visit the NCGT website or simply join the webinar at: http://go.ncsu.edu/PackagingSpecsWebinar.
This article originally appeared in the August 2014 NC Growing Together Newsletter.