Training & Resources

Certificate Courses

• Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training: (CornellCALS) The Produce Safety Alliance Grower training meets the training required under the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.  At least one person working on the farm, a manager or individual handling food safety, should attend this course and receive a certificate.  The curriculum is available in multiple languages, however a majority of the in-person courses are delivered in English. See our our own PSA Grower Training Schedule). 

  • Post-PSA Grower Training Resources (UC Small Farm Food Safety) 

• Good Agricultural Practices Training: (CornellCALS) The Good Agricultural Practices training course is an in depth course on GAPs covering definitions and applications of food safety practices.  It provides much more background on concepts compared to the PSA Grower training.  It is highly recommended for individuals new to on-farm food safety to attend this course.  In person courses are available, but Cornell Extension has an online program offered throughout the year.

General Food Safety Resources

• California Urban Agriculture Food Safety Guide: Laws and Standard Operating Procedures for Farming Safely in the City (UCANR, PDF 3.7 MB)
• Community Alliance with Family Farmers, A Farmer’s Guide to Food Safety and Conservation (CAFF, PDF 853 KB)

Post-Produce Safety Webinar Resources

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

• These resources from Western Growers (under SOPs, Guides, and Manuals) are intended as a walk through for conducting root cause analysis. They provide instruction to determine the underlying reason or reasons that caused the unexpected event or incident, identify the actions needed to eliminate the problem, determine if there were multiple co-dependent factors or inter-related issues, and enact steps to prevent it from happening again. See PDFs below.
  • RCA Guidance for the Produce Industry - How to do RCA (Western Growers, 7/7/2021) (PDF 468 KB)
  • When to Do RCA - A Decision-Making Guide for the Produce Industry (Western Growers, 7/7/2021) (PDF 327 KB)

Template food safety plans

• Though not a requirement under the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, it is recommended that an on farm food safety plan be developed to organize all the documentation required under the regulation.  Several template on farm food safety plans and guides for writing a plan are available to assist in developing a plan for your farm.
• Community Alliance with Family Farmer (CAFF) food safety plan resources  This page includes information on food safety plans, food safety plan templates, factsheets, sample standard operating procedures, template records, recall and traceability information, and training records. (CAFF)
• Farm Food Safety Plan Writing Resources & Templates (CornellCALS)
• Tools for writing a food safety plan (There is a word doc here that will open as a download.) (Penn State University)