An infosheet series titled "Safe Processing, Safe Food" has been developed and branded. The series is composed of peer-reviewed infosheets depicting conventional and emerging food processing technologies (FPTs) used to make foods safer. The goals of developing the infosheet series were to help Extension educators and, subsequently, the…

This article describes visual-based minimal-text food safety tools developed in Mandarin Chinese to educate Chinese-speaking food service workers about safe food handling practices. Ten posters and one PowerPoint presentation were developed, and their efficacy in conveying critical food safety messages was tested with Chinese-speaking food service…

Extension educators have been enlisted to assist farmers in meeting requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule (PSR). Although food safety is a familiar topic for Extension educators, helping farmers learn how to prepare for PSR regulations is new. In this article, we describe a needs assessment conducted in the north…

The number of school gardens and university farms is increasing in the United States. Produce grown in these venues is often sampled in the classroom or incorporated into the food chain. Food safety education for students and workers is needed to ensure that produce is safe. Two 1-hr food safety curricula were developed to inform K-12 students and…

During times of economic downturn, there has been an increased interest in home food preservation. As the primary resource for current research-based recommendations, a team of Extension Family and Consumer Sciences educators with specialization in food safety and food preservation responded to this demand by developing a standardized food…

Foodborne illness is a major public health concern in the U.S. The CDC [Centers for Disease Control] estimates that approximately 48 million Americans become ill, 128,000 hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne illnesses annually. Most of these illnesses are attributed to improper food handling. To meet the growing demand for food safety…

Growth in the dairy industry and the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act have renewed interest in dairy foods processing extension positions. A needs assessment survey was sent to Pennsylvania dairy processors and raw milk providers to guide priorities for a dairy foods extension program. The successful development and delivery of…

The growing trend in home food preservation raises concerns about whether the resulting food products will be safe to eat. The increased public demand for food preservation information led to the development of the comprehensive food preservation program, Preserve the Taste of Summer (PTTS). PTTS is a comprehensive hybrid food preservation program…

Renewed interest in growing and purchasing locally grown foods quadrupled requests for food preservation classes. Economic times tightened budgets, decreasing staffing levels of Extension educators. Offering options via the Internet was a natural progression to meet the increased demand. Extension educators created 20 5-minute online video--like…

Penn State Extension conducted on-farm food safety workshops statewide to train fruit and vegetable growers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). These workshops were evaluated using pre- and post-tests to assess the impact of the training on participating growers. Results indicate overall increases in produce growers' knowledge, attitudes,…

Differences in vegetable production methods utilized by American growers create distinct challenges for Extension personnel providing food safety training to producer groups. A program employing computers and projectors will not be accepted by an Amish group that does not accept modern technology. We have developed an outreach program that covers…

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 sets new nutrition standards for schools, requiring them to serve a greater variety and quantity of fruits and vegetables. Extension educators in New Jersey partnered with school nutrition professionals to implement a school wellness initiative that included taste-testing activities to support…

The purpose of our article is twofold. First, we introduce a framework for U.S. Extension educators to measure the extent of food access at any scale when information about food carried by retailers is limited. Second, we create a baseline for the Ohio Food Policy Council so that work to increase food access in rural areas will have a benchmark to…

Teens in limited-resource communities face challenges to healthy eating. Many youths lack food preparation skills and have limited access to ingredients needed to prepare healthy foods at home. University of Maryland Extension offered healthy food preparation lessons to teen participants of a popular weekly electronic gaming program in a Baltimore…

A focus group of Somali immigrants was conducted as part of a larger study of underserved communities in Minnesota. The goal was to capture Somali women's personal experiences and views on nutrition. This understanding assists Health and Nutrition educators in assessing the quality and effectiveness of current programming efforts and making…