Special Column for the Salisbury Post

Darrell Blackwelder

August 7, 2002

            The thought of unsafe food is never a primary concern whenever I eat at home or in a restaurant.  Fruit, vegetables and other produce have always been safe and wholesome; something I’ve always taken for granted.  However, food safety is a primary concern for growers. Food safety is just as important as fertilization or weed control for producers. Rowan County producers are taking steps from the field to the packing shed to insure consumers they are receiving wholesome fruit and vegetables.

The buzzword used in the vegetable production industry is GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices). The goal of the GAPs program is to reduce microbial risks with educational programs conducted by Cooperative Extension.

The GAPs project has collaborators in 16 states throughout the nation creating educational materials used to educate those working with fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Patterson Farms, Inc. in China Grove, Wetmore Farms and Correll and Moore farms in Woodleaf recently participated in the GAPs food safety program. Any worker from those directing traffic, to workers packaging fruit and vegetables received food safety training.

     A native of Brazil , Vivian Honeycutt was instrumental in interpreting educational information to Hispanic workers at Patterson Farms, Inc. Horticulture and Food Science North Carolina State University Extension Specialists’ Dr. Luz Reyes and Dr. Dennis Osborne did the initial training for Woodleaf vegetable producers in June.  

    The most graphic demonstration during the training was the use florescent dyes illustrating the importance of proper hand washing for those directly handling fruits and vegetables. It is important to observe how easily bacteria and fungi can persist even when hands were thought to be clean.

 Good agricultural practices are an important part of any agricultural operation. Those that handle food from the field to the table must realize that proper handling from the field to packing is paramount in food safety.  Rowan County producers as well as producers throughout the United States are meeting this challenge by constantly educating their workers with the GAPs program.