The College of the Sequoias Training Resource Center was awarded a grant to support California’s Central Valley specialty crop industry by providing affordable food safety training. This grant ran from November 1, 2020 through November 30, 2022. This grant delivered over 40 trainings to almost 400 farmers and processors in California, with 77% of them increasing their food safety knowledge. Trainings were rated at an average of 4.86 out of 5.
Most of these food safety trainings took place online or at the COS Tulare Campus, or the Elks Lodge in Reedley and Hanford. Depending on the training course, the fee costed just $30-$60. The trainings delivered were all related to FSMA – the Food Safety Modernization Act signed into law in 2011, requiring various adherence to new regulations for farmers and food processors. Trainings included Produce Safety Grower, Preventive Controls for Human Foods, Foreign Supplier Verification Program, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Internal Auditor.
Gabriel, a trainee who took GAP comments, “We had a great teacher who takes his time to go through things and make sure it is well explained. He did a good job of making the information interesting and relevant.” Scheyla took a HACCP class and stated the “instructor was very knowledgeable and used personal work experiences which helped with the understanding of the material. The conversation style of this training course was engaging and informative.”
To find out more about this grant or to see a list of upcoming classes, please visit the COS Training Resource Center website at www.cos.edu/trainingcenter . You can also email the Training Resource Center at [email protected] or call at (559) 688-3130.