Farmers Market Food Safety Resource Guide

This guide provides in-depth education on food safety concepts from farm to market, and includes practical tips and checklists to ensure you’re following standards.

Farmers Market Food Safety Online Course

Through a combination of videos and reading, this course focuses on teaching new and established farmers’ market vendors the basics of food safety and sanitation.

Food safety begins at product harvest, and continues through processing, preparation, transportation, and point of sale. In this course, you will learn about controlling food safety risks from “farm to fork.” The topics covered include: equipping food-safe facilities; sourcing and purchasing ingredients; product handling and preparation; sales and service at the farmers’ market; and record keeping, traceability, and liability.

Printable handouts to help control risk from farm to fork are included including: biological contaminants, manual cleaning, types of cleaners, types of soil, solubility characteristics, and recommended cleaning procedures, hand-washing, good sanitary practices, and food cooking requirements. A useful Event Checklist is also provided to help you, as a vendor, prepare for and set up your farmer’s market stand.

ILFMA COVID-19 Toolkit

ILFMA COVID-19 Toolkit was created to provide farmers markets with resource guidelines for operating an IN and OUT, transaction-based farmers market.  The guideline provides best practice recommendations for social distancing and enhanced sanitation.

Farmers Market Food Safety

Penn State Extension online course aims to educate farmers market vendors on food safety

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new Penn State Extension online course can help farmers market vendors advance their knowledge of food safety practices and reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

The “Farmers Market Food Safety” course teaches new and established farmers market vendors the basics of food safety and sanitation. Food safety begins at product harvest and continues through processing, preparation, transportation and point of sale.

The goal of the training is to provide insight into the regulations that apply to farmers markets vendors — depending on what type of product they sell — and some simple strategies to meet those regulations.

The curriculum was developed based on the findings of an innovative five-year study conducted by Penn State food scientists, the results of which show that improvements can be made regarding food safety at farmers markets.

Participants will learn about controlling food safety risks from “farm-to-fork” on topics such as equipping food-safe facilities, sourcing and purchasing ingredients, product handling and preparation, sales and service at the farmers market, and record keeping, traceability and liability. Printable handouts to help control risk and an event checklist also are provided.

To register, visit https://extension.psu.edu/farmers-market-food-safety-online.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Martin Bucknavage at 814-867-1839 or mwb124@psu.edu.

On-farm Food Safety: Guide to Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)

Overview of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) from Iowa State University Extension

A Grower Self Assessment of Direct Marketing Food Safety Risks

Guide and worksheets for direct marketing growers to self-assess and improve their food safety practices.

Food Safety Tips for Healthy Consumers

Two page PDF of food safety tips for consumers shopping at the farmers market

Washington State Farmers Market Association Toolkit: Food Safety

Chapter 9 of the Washington State Farmers Market Association Toolkit, focused on Food Safety

UNL Food Vendors/Farmers Markets Food Safety Guidelines

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources has made available food safety resources for temporary food service vendors.

Links include the Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture’s Guidelines for Farmers Markets, a UNL Food Processing Center report on Farmers Market Food Safety, and the NebGuide G1706 Food Safety for Farmers Markets.

Access these helpful resources on this UNL Food webpage.

Growers Guide for Nebraska Farmers Markets and Other Marketing Opportunities

This Growers Guide PDF-formatted manual was funded by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, developed by Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska in partnership with the Center for Rural Affairs. It contains a history/background of Nebraska farmers markets, along with farmers market rules, regulations, direct-to-consumer information, suggestions for displays, signage, pricing, proper methods of sale, permits, hygiene, and other resources.