Mark Your Calendars for 2013 GAPs Trainings

From Craig Kahlke cjk37@cornell.edu

There are 5 planned 2-day Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) workshops scheduled for this winter and spring. This is for those farmers who are being required by buyers to provide third party verification of their food safety practices and for farmers thinking about moving in this direction. With the Food Safety Modernization Act draft FDA regulations to be released in the very near future, the timing of these workshops is paramount. Although the 2-day workshops will cover the vast majority of what most 3rd-party audit companies require, it will be geared towards the new Harmonized GAPs standards that Wegmans and many other retailers are requiring. These are sponsored by Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority (except the Long island training), Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, the Produce Safety Alliance, and the New York State Department of Ag & Mkts.

1. January 15-16, Food Science Room 251, NYSAES, Geneva
   The focus is on berries, but all fresh produce growers are invited.
   Flyer and mail-in registration.
   Or register online at http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=65
2. January 30-31, Focus on Potatoes, location: Mt. Morris
   The focus is on potatoes, but all fresh produce growers are invited
   Flyer and mail-in registration.
   Or register online at http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=66
3. February 7-8, General GAPs training for all fresh produce growers, location : Batavia.
   Flyer and mail-in registration.
   Or register online at http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=67
4. March 6-7, General GAPs training for all fresh produce growers, location: CCE-Yates, Penn Yan.

Flyer and mail-in registration.
Or register online at http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=68

5. March 13-14, General GAPs training for all fresh produce growers, host CCE-Suffolk, Riverhead.
   Flyer and mail-in registration.
   Or register online at http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=70

For more information and updates, see : http://www.gaps.cornell.edu/eventscalendar.html

Registration info will be up approximately 4-5 weeks before the workshops. For more info, contact Craig Kahlke at cjk37@cornell.edu  or 585-735-5448.