California Alliance of Farmers' Markets

Should Food and Farm Workers Be Next in Line for the COVID Vaccine?

Enter a raffle to win a $50 gift card by completing this 15 min survey! Find the survey here: https://buff.ly/34BHPsF (more details below) Hi everyone,... UC ANR and UC Davis are conducting a survey of consumers to identify which types of specialty Asian produce are almost always cooked before eating, so that Southeast Asian and other small-scale farmers can receive exemptions from federal food safety regulations for low-risk crops. We would appreciate your help in taking the survey and sharing it widely with consumers of these crops, so that we can provide data to the FDA on whether they are eaten cooked or raw. Food safety regulations have exemptions for produce that is usually cooked instead of eaten raw, because the risk to consumers from human pathogens is much lower. Crops like potatoes, pumpkins, or lima beans that are almost always cooked before eating have a much lower risk than leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach that are frequently eaten raw. The FDA’s current list of rarely consumed raw produce does not include many types of produce that are culturally important to diverse communities of consumers across the US, because the FDA does not have data on how they are eaten. Because these crops are not on the list, small-scale farmers growing specialty produce cannot receive the exemptions that mainstream crops do, even if their crops are never eaten raw. We now have an opportunity to submit data to the FDA on additional crops that usually are cooked, pickled, or fermented to kill any disease organisms before eating. Data will be shared with the FDA to recommend additional culturally important crops to be added to the rarely consumed raw list, so that these crops can receive the same exemptions as mainstream rarely consumed raw crops under the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Please help us contribute to making federal food safety regulations more inclusive of diverse communities of farmers and consumers. As a thank you for completing the survey, respondents can enter a drawing to receive one of ten $50 gift cards after the survey closes in early January. Thank you for helping to support small-scale and diversified farmers! Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ph.D. Small Farms and Specialty Crops Farm Advisor University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno and Tulare Counties Voicemail: 559-241-7513 (working remotely)

Don't forget, Saturday December 19 is our last Saturday Berkeley Farmers' Market of 2020, making it your last chance to pick up a Farm Box before the new year!! If you would like to donate a Farm Box to a community member in need, check out our Holiday Food Drive link in our bio!!

We are 3 days away Join us for a California market manager roundtable where we’ll discuss some COVID-19 challenges and best practices for your farmers’ markets. This will be an opportunity to connect with other farmers’ market leaders, learn from each other, and ask any questions that may be lingering as we go into 2021. Happening Monday December 7th 2 - 430pm.... Register in advance for this meeting, the link is in the comments below https://buff.ly/38BhRbG After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The California Alliance of Farmers' Markets is hiring! We're looking to add an amazing Food & Farming Program Manager and Program Coordinator to our team. More details here: https://ecologycenter.org/jobs/ We'll start reviewing applications on Nov 30th. #farmersmarket #farmersmarketjobs