The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing service recently announced the Good Agricultural Practices toolkit.
The toolkit was created with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Foundation, according to USDA's Dec. 22 news release. The toolkit is intended to increase underserved farmers' access to new and existing markets, as well as to USDA food safety certification programs.
"By allowing farmers, food hubs and marketing organizations of all sizes to band together and pool resources to achieve USDA Good Agricultural Practices certification, GroupGAP is helping more farmers minimize food safety hazard risks and supply fresh, local and safe produce to markets," USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in the news release. "At the same time, GroupGAP also provides buyers and consumers alike with more purchasing options."
The toolkit provides new and user-friendly educational resources that places an emphasis on GroupGAP, according to the release. The USDA farm food safety program offers providers in the specialty crops industry opportunities to supply and buy fruits, vegetables and other such products certified as produced using Good Agricultural Practices. The toolkit described GAP program specifics, benefits, costs and misconceptions, as well as the audit process and available resources.
NASDA Foundation, the nation's only educational and research organization that directly serves U.S. state departments of agriculture, has a mission "to enhance American food and agricultural communities through education, outreach and research," the news release said. NASDA Foundation's work with states aims to nourish people and communities while acting as environment and public trust stewards.
"We are proud to have created this one-of-a-kind toolkit that will remove barriers to USDA Good Agricultural Practices programs by providing a guide of all GAP programs to allow farmers to determine which process is right for them," NASDA CEO Ted McKinney said in the news release. "The NASDA Foundation team traveled the nation asking producers what they need to be successful in the GroupGAP process and we have used those conversations to create these resources."
