Farm to school food safety - make sure to know this information before you sell to school markets

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety

If you are selling your produce to a school, early care or other institution, you might be asked about your food safety practices. The following information  is meant to help clarify what is required and what is allowed under Minnesota state food code when farms sell to markets like schools and other institutions. 

What is allowed under law?

To be clear, as per Minnesota state statute, locally grown food is legal to procure for school meal programs and other foodservice settings. A farmer is not required to get any sort of license or inspection to sell to these buyers, as long as they grow and sell their own product, or what is called "product of the farm".  This means product that a farmer grows with no off-farm ingredients added. As per the Minnesota Department of Health, food grown by farmers is an "approved source".

What about a GAP audit?

A buyer might ask for a GAP audit, which is a verification of Good Agricultural Practices that a farm uses. This is not a legal requirement, and many (most) buyers in Minnesota do not require a GAP audit. If your buyer does require a GAP audit, we can help you prepare for this and develop a food safety plan. See more on GAP audits here. 

If the school or other buyer is asking for some verification of your food safety practices, you could provide them with a written food safety plan, allow them to visit your farm, or show them the well water tests indicating that you use potable water sources. 

Guides on talking to buyers about food safety

"Food Safety Requirements for Farmers” and “Food Safety Questions to Ask Your Farmer" are two documents, both available here on the MDE website.

https://z.umn.edu/FarmtoSchoolFoodSafety

These new resources are intended to help food service buyers and farmers have successful discussions about what sort of regulations or requirements might apply to local purchases relating to food safety. If you are speaking with buyers this winter, consider printing these off for reference. 

Here is a excerpt from the table that shows the differences between what is required, and what is not.

Excerpt from "Food Safety Requirements for Farmers" factsheet

The first document, “Food Safety Requirements for Farmers”, is a table-format document that lays out the differences between required and optional audits and verifications for food safety practices for local farms.

The second, “Food Safety Questions to Ask Your Farmer,”  is a list of questions about on-farm food safety practices that food service workers can ask farmers when considering buying fresh fruits and vegetables directly from a farm. These questions are not about food safety in a food service kitchen, but rather about the steps that the farmer took on the farm to minimize the risk of contamination as the food was grown, harvested and transported to your kitchen door. 

There are many other things you might talk about as you develop a relationship and begin to sell food to a new institutional market, including delivery schedule, pricing and container and pack size. Food safety can be another part of this conversation, and should not create barriers or prevent any local food sales. Bringing along a written food safety plan and these factsheets is a great idea and will help the buyer understand the steps you take to grow safe, healthy food.

For help with a food safety plan or on-farm food safety questions, reach out to Annalisa at hultb006@umn.edu.