Food safety can seem like a maze of rules and regulations. If none of your buyers have demanded that you get GAP (“Good Agricultural Practices”) certified, then maybe you haven’t tried to untangle that maze. You may know that the law governing food safety—the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)—is different from GAP certification, but you may also assume your farm is too small to have to worry about FSMA rules.
No matter the size, it is a good idea for all farms to be familiar with FSMA’s basic produce safety rules. Remember that your status under the law can change if you sell more or shift a significant portion of your sales to wholesale. Also, business owners have to stay on top of industry trends to protect their business investments, and FSMA outlines most of the best practices in fresh produce food safety.
Continue reading about readiness reviews, and use this tool that CFSA created to clarify whether you are too small for FSMA rules to affect your farm.