United Fresh’s Town Hall Meeting Highlights Food Safety And Immigration Reform
April 1, 2014 Several Ohio growers gathered at the United Fresh Town Hall Luncheon on Wednesday, March 26 in Willard, OH, to hear from United Fresh representatives Andrew Marshall, Policy and Grassroots manager, as well as Dan Vache, vice president of Supply Chain Management, and to air their thoughts and concerns on current public policy issues.
The event was hosted by Buurma Farms, Weirs Farm/Dutch Maid Logistics, and was attended by other local growers including Holthouse Farms.
United Fresh’s Vice President of Supply Chain Management, Dan Vache (Left) stands next to Robert Holthouse of Holthouse Farms (Middle), and Andrew Marshall, United Fresh’s policy and grassroots manager (Right).
Food Safety Updates
The first topic on the table was the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and it was mentioned that FDA has proposed six additional rules embracing a preventative approach. Foreign supply verification, third party verification, and preventive control for animal feed were also part of the discussion. For more information on preventative control measures, click here.
The United Fresh reps reminded growers to take the time to submit changes to the guidance documents once they’re open for comments, and also suggested that there be no exemptions to the rules considering “pathogens don’t care what size you are.”
To help growers get up to speed on all of the new regulations, the reps said that the Produce Safety Alliance and the Preventative Control Alliance will be providing training to growers, and there will also be private-sector training available to those who need it.
The FSMA Proposed Rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food was also discussed, and the reps indicated the first meeting on the new rule is scheduled to be held in April, and that final comments on the rule were due on Monday, March 31st. Under the new rule, retailers are now classified as shippers, and will be required to abide by the same criteria as other shippers. This includes specific maintenance of vehicles and other transportation, proper temperature control during transportation, adequate recordkeeping, etc. Identifying who the shippers are, making sure that every link in the supply chain is properly classified, and keeping good records were of major concern in the comment section of the proposed rule.
Immigration Reform
Closing the meeting was a discussion on immigration reform, where growers chimed in on their concerns, and a few mentioned having to decrease acreage on a few selected crops due to a lack of available labor. The overall takeaway was that agriculture is not going to solve immigration reform on its own, and that it’s imperative for agriculture to band together with other industries, whether that be the hospitality industry, the food service industry, etc., to get the job done.
Part of the goal of United Fresh’s “Now Boarding for Chicago” Town Hall meetings is to provide growers with a preview of this summer’s United Fresh Convention, June 10-13 in Chicago. Upcoming tour stops include stops to Issaquah, WA; Boise, ID; Bakersfield, CA; and Salinas, CA. For more information on the tour, click here, and visit www.unitedfreshshow.org for more information on the convention in June.