Since 2011, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) has worked with farmers, researchers, state and federal government agencies, technology companies, other sustainable agriculture organizations, and produce buyers to evaluate, quantify, and help overcome the barriers that small-farm operators face in attaining food safety certification.
We have assisted more than 200 small and mid-sized farms across the Carolinas in implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and helped food hubs that work with those farms establish their food safety programs.
The intent of this manual is to share tips and strategies learned from these farms’ experiences that other small, diversified produce operations can employ to meet wholesale buyers’ GAP certification requirements.
Committing to a culture of food safety in your operation is an essential step toward tapping the market opportunities for sustainably-grown fruits and vegetables in today’s changing local food production and distribution systems.
Through this manual, CFSA aims to help you build that culture.
Food Safety Videos
CFSA has launched a series of videos to supplement the “Good Agricultural Practices for Small Diversified Farms: Tips and Strategies to Reduce Risk and Pass an Audit” manual below.
This video series continues to document real-world examples of how small, diversified farms can employ these tips and strategies to meet GAP certification requirements.
Learn more about CFSA’s GAPs one-on-one training and GAPs cost-share!
The Good Agriculture Practices manual and video series were made possible by a Specialty Crops Block grant awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services.