Welcome to the Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Food Safety online course website.
The next course will be offered beginning July 7, 2010.
Preventing and controlling the contamination of fresh farm produce is the key to producing wholesome, healthy products. This web-based educational program helps growers to develop and implement farm food safety plans, and prepares them for GAPs certification. As a result, growers can market their products with greater confidence.
The GAPs Online Course
Through the GAPs Online Course, participants learn more about:
- bacteria and other harmful microorganisms commonly associated with fresh produce.
- the costs and impacts of outbreaks caused by foodborne pathogens.
- strategies for controlling potential microbial food safety hazards throughout all phases of production, harvest, and post-harvest handling.
- the USDA Third Party Audit process.
Participants successfully completing the course receive a certificate of participation from University of Massachusetts Amherst.
This Course Has Five Modules
- Module 1: Welcome to Implementing GAPs: A Key to Produce Safety
In this module, you learn the course objectives and discover how to get the most out of your online experience.
- Module 2: Shared Responsibility in Food Safety
The first step to implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) is to understand that food safety is the shared responsibility of everyone. This means empowering everyone to improve food safety practices, including company-wide commitment from owners and managers to every employee involved in handling fresh produce or responsible for cleaning the facility.
- Module 3: Good Agricultural Practices
This module focuses on understanding and implementing GAPs
- Module 4: Implementing Change
This module details the importance of planning to implement GAPs in your operation. Learn about the critical components of a food safety plan and how you can write one for your organization. As your final course project, develop and implement a produce safety plan.
- Module 5: Course Conclusion
In this final section, you review the learning objectives for this course. You also learn about other resources that can help you effectively implement GAPs.
This Course Features
- online readings
- online discussions with a University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty members and your classmates
- interactive questions and feedback
- activities to complete
Registration Costs $50
At the conclusion you will be prompted to check that you have completed all of the activities and participated in each of the course discussions. You will also be asked to complete the course evaluation.
Steps to Become GAPs–Certified
1. Participate in the online GAPs Food Safety Training.
2. Develop and implement your farm food safety plan.
3. Invite a certified Third Party Auditor to conduct a USDA Third Party Audit on your farm.
For your audit, contact:
Robert Rondeau
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR)
robert.rondeau@state.ma.us
(617) 626-1804
(617) 626-1850 (fax)
4. When you have passed the USDA GAPs & GHPs Third Party Audit, you will become GAPs/GHPs-certified.
Through the GAPs online course you can
- learn from anywhere at any time - no scheduled teleconferences to view.
- interact with course instructors and other growers.
- participate in courses without paying for travel.
- receive a certificate of participation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst upon successful completion of the course.
How to Register
Look to the left frame for the link to go the registration page or Click Here.
If you have any questions or are having any difficulty navigating the web site, email David Nyachuba dgn@nutrition.umass.edu or call (413) 545-0552.
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For more information on GAPs and help in setting up a Food Safety Plan on your farm, contact:
David Nyachuba, Ph.D.
Program Leader for Food Safety
(413) 545-0552
dgn@nutrition.umass.edu
or
Richard Bonanno, Ph.D.
Extension Educator
(978) 361-5650
rbonanno@umext.umass.edu
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