Food Safety Legislation and Licensed Facilites to be Covered at KSFM Conference for Vendors

Food safety regulation and the sales of prepared foods and value-added products are some of the most common inquiries the KRC Farmers Market Project receives.

Vendors want to bring their famous pickles to market. A board believes that offering hot, ready to eat foods at an evening market will boost attendence. Licensed processing facilities and mobile units fall under the regulation of the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Lodging division and requirements are fairly dependednt on what an applicant wishes to sell.

At the upcoming Kansas Farmers Market Conference for Vendors, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from two farmers market vendors who have gone through the KDA licensing process. Don Flory will share information on the evolution of his sausage biscuit business while Shannon Rees will explains the development of the "commercial kitchen" at the Rees Fruit Farm market store.

KRC's Dan Nagengast and Pete Garfinkel will offer sessions that can assist producers in understanding the proposed federal food safety legislation and the process of establishing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) on their farms.

These sessions will be offered at the Kansas Farmers Market Conference for Vendors on January 30 at the Flint Hills Technical College in Emporia:

Get Right or Get Left: The story of Flory Foods’ licensed mobile unit
Don Flory
Don shares the process he implemented to develop and license a mobile unit to sell grilled breakfast sandwiches at farmers market. Know what end results you want to achieve. Define a path including procedures and contacts. Explanation of process involved in procuring license from state. 30 minutes
KDA’s Adam Inman holds a Q & A on licensed mobile units following this session.

Got GAPs?
Pete Garfinkel
GAPs certification is increasingly becoming a requirement for producers selling to many wholesale outlets.  This will be an overview of the major aspects of Good Agricultural Practices guidelines (GAPs) for fruit and vegetable producers.  We will discuss the features and benefits of GAPs certification and completion of farm self assessments. 30 minutes

Licensed Facilities: Where do I start?
Shannon Rees
Shannon explain her experience in trying to discover information for adding a certified kitchen to the Rees Fruit Farm market.  Learn who she contacted, what laws applied to her facility, and the hoops she jumped through to get the project approved. 30 minutes
KDA’s Adam Inman holds a Q & A on licensed facilities following this session.

Update on Federal Food Safety Legislation
Dan Nagengast
Will the pending federal food safety legislation affect produce sales at farmers markets? How about wholesale sales? Dan explains the current status of legislation in the House and Senate. 30 minutes