Farmer Partners Sought for Training Workshops

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Farmer Partners Sought for USDA-funded Farmer Training Workshops

FamilyFarmed is seeking partners across the U.S. to join in our grant applications for our USDA-funded Farmer Training Workshops. Food safety, wholesale/direct marketing, and postharvest handling curriculums are available.

Farmer Partners: To bring farmer training to your farmer network or for more information about our workshops, including financing/grant options to cover all associated costs, please contact James Pirovano (James@FamilyFarmed.org) and Chelsea Callahan (Chelsea@FamilyFarmed.org), or call312.874.7360 no later than June 16. 

We are pleased to announce new Direct Market Success training and On-Farm Food Safety training resources in addition to our acclaimed Wholesale Success training curriculum. 

These workshops are highly customizable to focus on your areas of need and can be scheduled for one to two days. Core topics could include: 

• FSMA/on-farm food safety plans & risk management best practices
• Wholesale marketing and operations
• Direct marketing operations
• Pre-harvest and post-harvest handling best practices
• Maintaining the cold chain, cleaning and drying, packing and grading
• Packing shed and farm site map design
• Developing relationships with buyers
• Worker health and hygiene, record keeping, traceability
• Contracts and wholesale sales agreements

Workshop activities may include: presentation, farmer and/or buyer panel, activities and small-group work, group assessments and discussion, beginning food safety plans, making farm site maps, facility tours and site visits, reception/Meet the Buyers networking event.

Since the launch of Wholesale Success: A Farmer’s Guide to Food Safety, Selling, Postharvest Handling, and Packing Produce – now in its 5th edition – FamilyFarmed has worked with partners to train more than 12,500 farmers across the U.S. on how to better meet buyers’ expectations for food safety, product consistency and product quality. Now we’ve added Direct Market Success for new and beginning farmers and a full food safety curriculum to make sense of new federal regulations, including those under the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Our trainings are led by Atina Diffley, author of the 2012 award-winning memoir, Turn Here Sweet Corn: Organic Farming Works. Atina is a pioneer in the organic farming community who will offer first-hand expertise, practical/scale-appropriate systems, step-by-step recommendations, group dialog and food safety plan assistance.    

Through this program, we will:

• Present a customized 1-day or 2-day workshop, based on Direct Market/Wholesale Success manuals and On-Farm Food Safety templates, that is presented by our seasoned farmer/trainer Atina  Diffley
• Provide participating farmers a free companion technical assistance manual based on the training topic focus (either our new Direct Market Success manual, our recently updated Wholesale Success, or our On-Farm Food Safety Tool companion binder).
• Provide technical assistance to participants who want to complete a customized food safety plan using our free, online on-farm food safety tool.

Who do we partner with to provide these trainings?

• Wholesale/institutional buyers
• Food hubs and packinghouses
• Non-profit organizations
• Farmers markets
• University Extension offices
• State Departments of Agriculture
• Farmer Cooperatives/Auctions
• Retailers

To learn more about becoming farmer partners, our overall Farmer Training program, and our new Direct Market Success program, click on the attachments.

Sincerely, 

Jim Slama, President

FamilyFarmed