Heather Johnson – April 20, 2020
WIFSS is set to offer two remote deliveries of the official PSA Grower training course for specialty crop growers in California. Links to the registration sites have been included. Click on the date that you would like to sign up for and register online. The course is scheduled to be delivered on Thursday, May 14, 2020 via Zoom webinar, and will be co-taught by David Goldenberg of WIFSS, Michele Jay-Russell of WCFS, and Donna Clements of PSA. The registration deadline for this course is May 7, 2020. The second course is scheduled to be delivered on Thursday, May 28, 2020, and will also be co-taught by the WIFSS and PSA certified instructors. The registration deadline for this second course is May 21, 2020. The cost to growers for these courses is $60 which covers part of the delivery costs. The majority of the costs are covered by a grant from CDFA Specialty Crop Block Grant program. The offering of this remote PSA Grower training course will help CA farmers meet the educational requirement in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, while still abiding by social distancing restrictions to minimize the spread of COVID-19. During the remote delivery, WIFSS will share the new free, online outreach materials that were developed to supplement the standardized PSA Grower Training.
These new online training materials developed by WIFSS aim to support the implementation of food safety practices on farms, and are designed to be complementary to the standardized PSA Grower training course. The new online course developed by WIFSS consists of 5-modules and is offered online to all CA specialty crop growers for free. One of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements that growers must comply with is providing training for farm employees, and the WIFSS online course is a helpful resource to accomplish that task. Taking this free online training course does not replace the need for the official standardized PSA Grower training course, however. WIFSS continues to support small and mid-sized farms by offering a way for farmers to receive the required training during this time of emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PSA Grower Training Remote delivery, May 14, 2020, $60/person – REGISTRATION CLOSED
PSA Grower Training Remote delivery, May 28, 2020, $60/person – Register here