Food safety is taking center stage in America. Consumers and retailers are demanding accountability when it comes to producing, buying and selling fresh produce. Developing, implementing and auditing a food safety plan are essential to Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and it can reduce both health and business risks for consumers and growers.
Good Agricultural Practices – Fresh Produce Safety Plan for Field Practices (PDF) (MS Word)
This template, developed by N.C. State, provides a framework for growers developing their own food safety plans – providing examples of standard operation procedures (SOPs) and documentation records. This document represents the Field Harvest portion of the USDA matrix. Before attempting to develop a plan, growers should obtain training in GAPs offered by N.C. Cooperative Extension or another training organization.
California Strawberry Commission Food Safety Program
Manual for strawberry growers with guidelines and worksheets.
Farm and Packinghouse Record Keeping Sheets
Download and print record keeping sheets from Cornell for bathroom sanitation, worker training, illness reporting and more. Customize to fit your operation and food safety plan.
Good Agricultural Practices for Pennsylvania Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Includes guidance on food safety plans, in-depth checklists for a self-audit and forms and posters from Cornell to use on the farm.
Food Safety Plan: pg. 36-47
Forms and Posters: pg. 60-68
Sample Food Safety Plan for Potatoes
Developed by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Potato Program, this sample food safety plan incorporates USDA Good Agricultural Practices.
How do I write a food safety plan?
A template, checklist, and policies and procedures were developed by Penn State Extension in July 2010.
Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) Assistance Manual
This manual, developed in collaborations between Michigan State University Extension and Michigan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association Inc (MACMA) is meant to act as a guide for growers who are developing a food safety plan to meet the requirements of a USDA GAP Audit during 2011.
You can create a personalized food safety manual for your farm, but you need to become a member and log in. Please read through the instructional steps below or contact your local Cooperative Extension agent to help view an account already created. Instructions to log in and design a food safety manual:
- Go to the Web site: http://intranet.primuslabs.com/igap/default.asp
- On the left-hand column, click on ”New Users.”
- Sign in. Accept and create an account for yourself with a password (write down the password; you will need to remember this!)
- Once you have done this for the first time you will be assigned an access code. Use your password to get into the site.
- A screen will pop up with a welcome on the top and all the manuals that you can create. Choose the GAP Manual to comply with USA.
- Go through the questions and then download the manual in Word format (so that you can make changes to it).
- Next, go back to the login page and create a Manual of Packing Operations and Food Safety Issues using the same process.
