By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Farmers and consumers share a common bond – food. With consumers buying more locally grown fresh fruits, vegetables and other agricultural commodities, there is an increased expectation for growers to take extra precautions to ensure they are delivering a safe product.

A session at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo Dec. 8-10 focused on GAP audits – a self-audit that allows producers to assess Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) followed in the production of their agricultural commodities. Tom Kalchik, associate director of the Michigan State University Product Center, said while a GAP audit is not required by law, it is driven by the food industry as a social responsibility of producers.

“This is one thing that hasn’t been regulated,” he said. “But private food safety standards are driven by retailer demand for improved food risk management.”

Kalchik cited several food recalls – E. coli in spinach, salmonella in peanuts, alfalfa sprouts and pistachios and others. He explained there are several potential sources of pathogens for the contamination of fresh produce, and that it is in a grower’s best interest to voluntarily undergo period GAP audits to help ensure safety of the world’s food supply.

“It is a series of practices that you document to show that you are properly handling your products,” Kalchik said.

Colleen Bess, an auditor with the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA), said the basis of an audit is “to reduce the risk on your farm. You need to take the steps that you need to take to ensure you are producing a safe product.”

She said farms should have a documented food safety manual that is fully implemented, with one or two individuals in charge of the program. Farm representatives meeting with the auditor should be organized and knowledgeable about the farm operation.

“I like it when I arrive and the farmer didn’t sleep the night before. That means he cares – he really cares,” Bess said.

The basic idea of the audit is to ensure proper procedures are being followed by all workers in product handling areas, in the fields, in washing and storage areas and more. Bess said basic essentials are frequent hand washing, the availability of potable water, workers being trained in basic food handling procedures and following other health safety standards.

David Witte, a vegetable and fruit grower near West Bend, Wis., said he isn’t against GAP, but he wonders “where it begins and ends.” He and his family own and operate Witte’s Vegetable Market LLC near Milwaukee, Wis. They run a U-pick operation, an on-farm market and take their products to the West Allis Farmers’ Market in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee.

“We try to do everything right,” Witte said.

But he wonders just how far government regulations will go. At his operation, everyone does a little bit of everything. He often works in the field harvesting fresh vegetables and fruits and takes them to the farm market, where they are washed and then packed to be taken to a farmers’ market in town.

“It’s not like I’m harvesting 20 acres of apples and that’s all I’m doing that day,” he said.

He said he and his employees are careful to keep things clean, but after listening to the workshop presenters, he isn’t sure how any farm can meet the audit standards.

Under a voluntary GAP audit, U-pick operations are required to keep a log of all visitors; that’s a rule Witte felt was too tough. He also said rules that don’t allow people to eat fruits or vegetables in the picking area were not very realistic in a farm market setting.
All of his concerns add up to the fact that he’s afraid of what the future holds for small farmers like him. “I’m just scared about what that line of compliance is going to be,” he said.

Although a GAP audit currently is voluntary, Witte said he is concerned about it becoming mandatory and fears it could be the end of small family farms like his, because of compliance costs.
“I’m afraid of how far this is going to migrate down,” he said. “I’m all in favor of food safety. I’m just concerned about the realistic approach about how to implement in your own farm.”