Food Safety in Agriculture

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Agriculture is one of the main industries in the desert southwest, but before the product can even be served, it must be protected.

While many people think of agriculture as mainly just planting and harvesting there is a whole other element involved in getting food on your table.

"Our way is a way of prevention food safety is about prevention and keeping people healthy by eating fruits and vegetables that are safe and healthy for them to eat," said Jon Boelts the Desert Green and Farm Owner.

According to the USDA, the nation’s food supply must be monitored and regulated according to science-based principles.

It is the responsibility of farmers, food safety directors, and employees to minimize the risk of contamination as much as possible.

However, this process begins much sooner than you think.

"Food safety starts way before we even think about dropping seed into the ground, we’re already going out there and doing risk assessments of our ranches to see what we have adjacent to them that could be a potential risk or a hazard and try and mitigate those risks to minimize any type of contaminations," said Valentine Sierra.

Sierra has been the food safety director at Amigo Farms for five years and in the agricultural industry for over 25 years.

During this time Sierra has seen food safety develop its regulations to better protect the consumer.

"Our biggest concern was just keeping animals out of the field, having our employees trained, and water sampling it was that simple," said Sierra.

However, a large E. Coli outbreak in the summer of 2006 that resulted in over 200 illnesses and five deaths across 26 states made the industry change forever.

"Now, we do risk assessments of our ranches, we have to monitor weather events. We do product sampling and we do more of a water sampling as well...We used to do it a little bit but now we do it more," said Sierra.

Jon Boelts, a local farmer here in Yuma County explains how they have used science to better assure the health of the product and the consumer.

"Understanding things that can make people sick and so we've improved and gotten more detailed as science has shown us the way to improve on our practices, improve on how we grow and where we grow," said Boelts.

Both companies use the Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement to ensure they are following food safety guidelines.

One of the guidelines is training employees on an annual basis so they are up to date with the latest rules and regulations.

"Good hygiene, hand-washing, identifying risk, animal intrusion, reporting any illnesses, no jewelry out in the field, no eating at out at the field, keeping the ranches clean," said Sierra.

"They truly are the front lines of working out in these fields every day, operating tractors and equipment, irrigating, that sort of thing, it's imperative that they understand," said Boelts.

However, employees are not the only ones at risk of contamination.

Living in Yuma you might have a good chance of living near some produce fields, while it may seem like a nice path to take your dog on a walk, it can actually be very dangerous.

"People can be carriers of food born illness pathogens their animals can be…folks keeping their animals keeping their livestock away," said Boelts.

Due to these major risks, company’s not only put up signs and fences, but also meet with some neighbors as well.

"We visit them, we work with them, we let them know what we do and how important it is for them to help us keep that produce safe because you got to remember that's the same. We're growing the same stuff that they're eating at their tables," said Sierra.

Even after all of these regulations, procedures, and precautions in place Sierra still has some advice on how to better make sure your food is safe to consume.

"Food safety doesn't just end at the field it needs to go through the whole process it gets to the person's house…washing the produce you know giving it a rinse for five seconds you know before they consume it; utensil's that they’re using make sure that they’re clean and sanitized and doesn’t harbor any bacteria," said Sierra.

Food safety is such a critical part of the agriculture industry and process, farmers will sometimes invest a large sum of money into it.

"Farmers like us will spend more growing and producing and keeping the food safe than even what they can get when it’s time to harvest it’s not a matter of economics it's a matter of safety," said Boelts.

And with agriculture being such a major business here in the desert southwest this means food safety is especially key to the region as well.

"We're growing produce that’s going to feed our children, our restaurants, ourselves, our hospitals, so with their help keeping that produce safe from beginning til it gets to their table it's a win for everybody," said Sierra.

These farmers and directors would like to remind us that living in Yuma County, agricultural fields are almost always nearby, but it is important to do our part in making sure the produce remains as healthy as can be for us to eat.