Welcome to Produce Safety University!
We are excited to have you as our 2024 cohort.
This participant portal has everything you need to know before, during, and after PSU.
If you have additional questions, contact us here.
Produce Safety University, (PSU), is designed to help school nutrition professionals identify and mitigate risks associated with fresh produce, whether it’s purchased from traditional suppliers, direct from farmers, or through the DoD Fresh program. PSU highlights food safety risks across the fresh produce supply chain, from growing and harvesting to storage and preparation.
PSU is an interactive course, that includes lecture, laboratory, and field-trip instruction. It combines the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)’s expertise in food safety and school foodservice programs with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)’s expertise in the fresh produce industry.
The PSU session will be held March 12- 14 Tuesday through Thursday. Each day will be from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Eastern Time and will feature classroom instruction, breakout sessions, produce labs, and more!
You’ll need to register on Zoom for access to the PSU classroom; please register no later than 12:00 pm ET the Friday before class.
The PSU Participant Portal
The participant portal has everything you need to know before, during, and after PSU. If you have additional questions, contact us here. The portal will be available to you until the 2025 PSU season.
Classes start promptly at 10:00 am, and you will miss significant information if you are late. Please contact Natasha.Williams@usda.gov and ProduceSafetyUniversity@usda.gov if you will be late for any reason.
Classroom Access (Very Important)
The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) will email you a link to “register” to access the “classroom”. During registration, your contact information (name, phone number and email) will be requested to verify your seat in the session. Once verified, you will receive the link to access the classroom.
To take the course, you will need a laptop or desktop. Do not use a phone or iPad to take the course. Classroom features will not be accessible on those modalities. Training should be taken in person at a desk. We will not permit participants who are driving or preoccupied with other activities as it is a distraction to the other participants and the trainers.
Produce Labs
We will have informative produce labs on receiving, produce safety, and safe preparation. If you are interested in following along at home (optional), please prepare the following materials at your workspace:
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Gloves and thermometer
- Featured produce: apples, oranges, romaine lettuce, strawberries, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cantaloupe
Tuesday Agenda
| 10:00 | Welcome and Setting the Scene | 15 | Program Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:15 | Getting to Know You | 30 | Training Team |
| 10:45 | Where Does Your Produce Come From? | 30 | AMS |
| 11:15 | Food Safety Overview | 30 | FNS Food Safety Branch |
| 11:45 | Break | 10 | Break |
| 11:55 | Growing Food Safely | 25 | AMS |
| 12:20 | GAPs Activity – Breakout Room | 30 | Training Team |
| 12:50 | Lunch | 30 | Lunch |
| 1:20 | Buy Smart, Save Smart | 25 | Culinary Solution Centers |
| 1:45 | Produce Lab – Apples | 10 | ICN |
| 1:55 | Break | 5 | Break |
| 2:00 | Farm to School – Safely Sourcing Local Foods | 45 | FNS Office of Community Food Systems |
| 2:45 | Debrief and Q&A | 15 | Training Team |
| 3:00 | Adjourn | Adjourn | |
| Total Minutes | 300 | ||
| Total Hours | 5 |
Wednesday Agenda
| 10:00 | Welcome | 10 | Program Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:10 | Produce Lab – Oranges | 10 | ICN |
| 10:20 | Quality and Condition | 25 | AMS |
| 10:45 | Produce Lab – Broccoli and Cauliflower | 10 | ICN |
| 10:55 | Market News Video | 5 | ICN |
| 11:00 | Market News Portal Review | 25 | AMS |
| 11:25 | Break | 10 | Break |
| 11:35 | Produce Lab – Cantaloupes | 10 | ICN |
| 11:45 | Fresh-Cut Produce | 25 | FNS Food Safety Branch |
| 12:10 | Produce Lab – Tomatoes | 10 | ICN |
| 12:20 | Lunch | 30 | Lunch |
| 12:50 | Produce Lab – Romaine | 15 | ICN |
| 1:05 | Produce Lab Discussion | 20 | Training Team |
| 1:25 | Mock Recall Activity – Breakout Room | 20 | Culinary Solution Centers/PSU Team |
| 1:45 | Field Trip – Cockrell Banana Co. | 6 | ICN |
| 1:51 | Break | 5 | Break |
| 1:56 | Field Trip – Topashaw Farms | 10 | ICN |
| 2:06 | Networking | 9 | Training Team |
| 2:15 | Debrief and Q&A | 15 | Training Team |
| 2:30 | Adjourn | Adjourn | |
| Total Minutes | 270 | ||
| Total Hours | 4.5 |
Thursday Agenda
| 10:00 | Welcome | 5 | FNS Food Safety Branch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:05 | Produce Lab – Cucumbers | 10 | ICN |
| 10:15 | Receiving and Storage | 25 | AMS |
| 10:40 | Receiving and Storage Activity | 10 | AMS |
| 10:50 | Produce Lab – Bananas | 10 | ICN |
| 11:00 | Break | 10 | Break |
| 11:10 | Writing Specifications | 30 | Culinary Solution Centers |
| 11:40 | Writing Specifications Activity | 30 | AMS |
| 12:10 | Lunch | 30 | Lunch |
| 12:40 | Hot Topics and Emerging Issues | 15 | Training Team |
| 12:55 | Produce Lab – Strawberries | 10 | ICN |
| 1:05 | Produce Lab Discussion | 14 | Training Team |
| 1:19 | Produce Lab Bloopers | 6 | ICN |
| 1:25 | Break | 5 | Break |
| 1:30 | Safe Preparation and Service | 20 | Culinary Solution Centers |
| 1:50 | Debrief and Q&A | 15 | Training Team |
| 2:05 | Evaluations | 15 | Program Manager |
| 2:20 | Graduation | 10 | Program Manager |
| 2:30 | Adjourn | Adjourn | |
| Total Minutes | 270 | ||
| Total Hours | 4.5 |
At Produce Safety University (PSU), our Training Team will be present each day to assist you. In the event of an emergency or unexpected absence, please reach out to Natasha Williams, PSU Program Manager at (703-457-7719). You can also email at Natasha.Williams@usda.gov, and cc ProduceSafetyUniversity@usda.gov.
If you have any follow up questions during class, please feel free to ask them at the top of the hour or contact us after class at ProduceSafetyUniversity@usda.gov.
Course Materials
Agenda:
Binder:
Additional Resources:
Conducting a Mock Recall of Produce:
Produce Storage:
Photo Release Form:
Produce Information Sheets:
(click to download)
Videos:
The following video portal is accessible in the event a participant experiences technical difficulties in the PSU classroom. The curriculum is interactive and videos are integrated throughout the training. Should a video malfunction for you while in the classroom, you will be able to access this portal to continue watching the content. It is not recommended to view this content beforehand. Following along with the PSU instructors will be paramount to your understanding of the course material.
*password: ICNVPSU2023
Contacts
If you have any follow up questions, feel free to contact us at ProduceSafetyUniversity@usda.gov. In the event that you experience any other unforeseen events that impact your attendance, please let us know as soon as possible.
All emails from the ICN will come from Erica Covington Ford, Thom Hunter-Pratt, Colin Hughes, Lisa Rogers, or Elyse Lenaburg @Olemiss.edu. Please check your spam folder to ensure you have received all information for participants.
We look forward to you joining us for PSU Virtual Edition. On behalf of the USDA and the ICN, thank you for participating in Produce Safety University.
