Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** this community outreach project…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** this community outreach project will focus on meeting the food safety training needs of underserved, bipoc and underserved farmers in urban and rural portions of greene county, MO, as they initiate agricultural careers and enter production markets. SCG has made intentional efforts to reach out to immigrant populations in greene county, MO including the burmese, hmong, congolese, and newly arriving afghan communities to incorporate culturally appropriate and linguistically accessible training and resources. While the opportunity to sell at farmers markets and other cultural markets in the region remains high, language and cultural barriers have often presented specific challenges when bringing food to market, specifically food safety and handling procedures that differ from their native countries. No other food safety training exists in the region for these populations.MU extension, a leader in regional agricultural training and resources, has successfully provided food safety and fsma PSA training to socially disadvantaged and immigrant populations in the past (specifically the hmong populations in rural areas of the state) and will be a primary partner for the proposed project. In partnership with MU extension, this project will incorporate fsma PSA training into the SCG farm incubator training model already in place, with a particular emphasis on the burmese and congolese populations, building the capacity of SCG to identify and implement appropriately customized food safety education and outreach programs to the bipoc and burmese and congolese populations both during the grant timeframe and after the grant timeframe. This project is anticipated to provide intense training to 100 target population farmers over the course of 24 months.