{"id":1075,"date":"2012-01-18T10:22:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2012-01-18T10:22:22","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T17:22:22","slug":"packer-preps-small-growers-on-food-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2012\/01\/18\/packer-preps-small-growers-on-food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Packer preps small growers on food safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.thepacker.com\/fruit-vegetable-news\/Sunnyside-Packing-preps-small-growers-on-food-safety-137523543.html?ref=543<\/a><\/p>\n

An in-house food safety training program at Selma, Calif.-based Sunnyside Packing Co. prepares even its smallest growers for third-party audits.<\/p>\n

The Sunnyside Agricultural Food Safety Education and Enhancement program \u2014 SAFE \u2014 launched in late 2010 with an eye to getting about 150 growers ready by this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing from 0% to 100% in one season was unattainable, so we started earlier,\u201d said Todd Hirasuna, general manager. \u201cThis year starting Jan. 1, all of our growers are required to undergo a third-party audit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growers in the Sunnyside program are a diverse bunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sole purpose is to help educate and keep going a lot of the small family farmers who still exist here,\u201d Hirasuna said. \u201cIn Fresno County or the valley, there are still very small immigrant farmers who farm anywhere from a half-acre to not much more than five or 10 acres. Our grower pool includes Hispanics or Southeast Asians; many don\u2019t speak English, or English is their second language. Having the time and wherewithal to come to grips with food safety is above and beyond what most have the resources for.”<\/p>\n

Training is conducted in more than three languages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are not too many grower demographic makeup\u2019s like ours left,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of times unique situations require unique solutions and I feel like we\u2019ve got one here.”<\/p>\n

The program includes classroom and field components, scheduled on an ongoing basis and overseen by Irene Briseno, food safety coordinator. Sunnyside\u2019s SAFE started up slowly about a year ago with surveys of each grower\u2019s operations and evaluations of their practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we\u2019ve done the initial education, it\u2019s onsite visits and continuing classroom education to make sure they remain compliant, following not only our company policies but industry best practices,\u201d Hirasuna said. \u201cIt\u2019s rapidly progressed to a kind of full-blown food safety program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some growers were unhappy about such requirements \u2014 at least at first. They find the expense and documentation for audits burdensome. But there is a payoff at the end for them and for Sunnyside, as the company sees it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really have to expect some pushback from growers,\u201d Hirasuna said. \u201cA lot say, \u2018I\u2019ve been doing this for 20 years, why do I have to do it differently now?\u2019 They stay anyway because through media or word-of-mouth growers know the food safety movement is only gaining strength and is not going away. They won\u2019t fall under any exemption.\u201d<\/p>\n

The payoff comes by consolidating volume from scattered growers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re giving them a greater fair market access, but also sustaining what we\u2019ve had for decades,\u201d Hirasuna said. \u201cIt enables us as a marketer and shipper to access some of the buyers that require consistent quality and volume. Those who undergo audits will be able to access the more lucrative buyers, while the ones who don\u2019t will be seen as too risky. Even if we\u2019re the only shipper in the area requiring this, they\u2019re still net money ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal is to make small growers self-sufficient in food safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can find a way to incorporate it in a cost efficient and effective manner to their operations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Growers who pass audits can have their produce packed under Sunnyside\u2019s Calway and Truway labels. The company packs cherry and grape tomatoes under Truway; eggplant, squash, beans, peppers, onions and other commodities under Calway.<\/p>\n

Even with many growers in its fold, Sunnyside isn\u2019t the largest operation out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally we have 15 to 20 fulltime employees,\u201d Hirasuna said.<\/p>\n

One is Briseno, hired in September as food safety coordinator. She conducts onsite visits, among other aspects of the training.<\/p>\n

The classroom portion met six times in 2011; two classes have happened so far this year, and more may be scheduled before production hits full stride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.thepacker.com\/fruit-vegetable-news\/Sunnyside-Packing-preps-small-growers-on-food-safety-137523543.html?ref=543 An in-house food safety training program at Selma, Calif.-based Sunnyside Packing Co. prepares even its smallest growers for third-party audits. The Sunnyside Agricultural Food Safety Education and Enhancement program \u2014 SAFE \u2014 launched in late 2010 with an eye … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\r\nPacker preps small growers on food safety - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2012\/01\/18\/packer-preps-small-growers-on-food-safety\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Packer preps small growers on food safety - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"http:\/\/www.thepacker.com\/fruit-vegetable-news\/Sunnyside-Packing-preps-small-growers-on-food-safety-137523543.html?ref=543 An in-house food safety training program at Selma, Calif.-based Sunnyside Packing Co. prepares even its smallest growers for third-party audits. 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