Well, people that know me, know that it doesn’t take much to get me rattled up about issues that I am passionate about. So it should come as no great surprise that the debate that has started about the new guideline proposals that strengthen food safety at Farmers Markets is getting under my skin.
The Public Health policy proposal has been in the works for some time now. You can read it here. The goal is to provide a more clear definition of what can be sold at a Farmers or Public market. At this point the guidelines have been written in a manner that leaves a fair bit of room for interpretation. As a food producer who relies on sales at the Farmers Market for my livelihood (i.e this is not a hobby for us) I welcome any changes that can improve accountability and public safety at the market level. I don’t believe that requiring commercial food processors to follow proper food handling techniques will put Farmers Markets “out of business”. It is not difficult or expensive to set up a private commercial, certified kitchen. And if a vendor is unable to do so in their own home, due to lack of space, lack of financial resources or they don’t own their home, they are able to obtain the use of a certified kitchen at many community centres, church halls or town offices. that doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me.
Farmers Market regulations were developed at a time when most of the vendors were actually FARMERS. The concept of a Farmers Market came about to allow rural producers to vend their products to urban residents within the limits of the city. The guidelines allowed the “farm-gate” sales to extend to sales by the producer in the city at a Farmers Market. These guidelines do not allow the farmers to vend their product to grocery stores etc, that falls under Federal and Provincial regulations.
But according to Rick Trimp, Executive Director of Population Health with the Health Ministry, the guidelines are not regulations and are being reviewed due to the increase in commercial vendors (not farmers but rather small, urban based businesses engaging in food processing): “The last update was in 1998, since 1998, some markets (have become) more commercialized.” He continues saying, “the focus is primarily on those selling commercial products. (Some) are becoming commercial operations. With that, (there) needs to be adherence to commercial guidelines. There’s an expectation that they become in-line with commercial-type standards”. “We (also) want to make sure that the public stays protected and are aware that these foods are safe for consumption,” he continued. The majority of food processors at the Farmers Market in Regina are not farmers, their products are not extensions of their farm income, they are living and producing in the city and some are operating catering or meal preparation businesses out of the Farmers Market, which was never the intention of the original Dept of Agriculture vision for a farmers market. Those vendors that are Farmers, for example the great Over the Hill Orchards DO have the proper facilities to process their product. They have taken the steps and made the investment to ensure their product is healthy and safe. Why should they have to compete with others who do not make the same investment?
But this proposal has drawn criticism from some vendors, some market employees and even some consumers. Some, but not all. The Saskatoon Farmers Market manager, Deb Claude disagrees with the negative responses. She states that “There really isn’t a lot of changes to (the rules),some of the things we haven’t been able to carry before unless it’s being produced in licensed kitchens. So really, there are a couple of small things — but remember, these are draft.”
The purpose of the changes is to improve public safety. Some market managers may not be aware of potential food hazards as may some small food producers. In my opinion the guidelines are not strong enough. I think it should be mandatory for the food processor to take a “Safe Food Handling” course, currently it is only a suggestion. Just because someone knows how to cook food for their family does not imply they are aware of all of the potential food safety issues when it comes to handling certain products. There is a reason that the health Dept is trying to tighten up rules governing the processing of meat, dairy products (or products such as custard pie and pumpkin pie that contain dairy). I am sure we can all remember the listeriosis out-break? And salmonella and E.coli are easily passed to food due to improper handling.
The goal of our Farmers Markets across the province should be to strengthen the safety of the products sold to the public. One outbreak of food born illness could ruin the livelihoods of many small-scale farmers who rely on public markets to sell their products. There will be products that are eliminated from the market sales (such as sprouts) due to the high possibility of contamination. If you would like to read the CFIA Food Safety guidelines on the production of sprouts go here. And of course products that are already illegal to sell to the public (hunted game) will remain on the ‘prohibited list’. Individuals who want to start processing food should have a solid background in food safety and food borne illness, they should be able to secure a clean, safe, inspected site to process the food they want to sell to your family. I think many consumers already assume that baking and other products are processed in a site other than the sellers home kitchen, and if this is not the case, the consumer has the right to know that the seller is canning, baking etc in their home.
The first draft of the guidelines has come out, but it has not been finalized. There will likely be more input and re-wording so that there is no further mis-understandings about why, how and what the changes will look like.
Our farm encourages all consumers to ask their vendor if they are following proper food safety guidelines, where do they bake, where do they grow, how do they transport the products etc. We have been improving our On Farm Food Safety for several years now. many of you will remember when Lincoln Gardens transported produce in recycled banana boxes! You may have noticed that we DON’T do that anymore…we also provide hand sanitizer to customers at the farm and at the market so that they can avoid cross-contamination. We will continue to look far ways that we can improve the safety of your food. It is too bad that not everyone thinks this is important.
Read more: Star Phoenix
The noose around farmers markets just got a little tighter
Posted by healthandfoodforum on May 22, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Good points raised. I am surprised that it is not already required for food processors to take a required “Safe Food Handling” course. Thank you for increasing awareness on this subject.