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FREE WEBINAR: Food Safety Opportunities & Challenges Unique To Controlled Environment Agriculture - September 9, 2020

Join the CEA Food Safety Coalition and its panel of food safety experts from Bowery Farming, BrightFarms, Plenty & Planted Detroit - for our next Indoor Ag-Conversation

Join the CEA Food Safety Coalition and its panel of food

Safety Experts From

Bowery Farming, BrightFarms, Plenty & Planted Detroit 

for our next Indoor Ag-Conversation:

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RESERVE YOUR FREE SPOT!

 MODERATOR:
 Marni KarlinCEA Food Safety Coalition Executive Director

PANELISTS:
Chris Livingston, General Counsel, Bowery Farming
Jackie Hawkins, Senior Manager of Food Safety, BrightFarms

Isabel Chamberlain, Senior Manager of Food Safety, Plenty
 Simon Yevzelman, Director of Operations, Planted Detroit

DURING THIS 60-MINUTE SESSION, YOU'LL:

  • Learn about food safety opportunities and challenges specific to CEA leafy greens production - including areas such as system design and recirculating water

  • Hear from food safety experts from CEA leafy greens producers representing a variety of production practices, sizes, and geographies

  • Gain an understanding into the role of technology in CEA food safety

  • Learn why consumers and retailers should care - and the work the Coalition is doing to develop a CEA-specific food safety addendum

LEARN MORE

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR INDOOR AG-CON 2020

EXHIBITORS, SPONSORS, MEDIA ALLIES &
INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Indoor Ag-Con, 950 Scales Road, Building #200, Suwanee, GA 30024, United States

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How Leafy Greens Growers Have Turned Food Safety Challenges Into Opportunities

Growing lettuce and other leafy greens in a controlled environment presents its own set of challenges and opportunities

By Brian D. Sparks

July 30, 2020

Editor’s Note: This article is the second of a three-part series on food safety concerns in the production of leafy greens in a controlled environment. 

Click here to check out Part One of the series, which covered the formation of the CEA Food Safety Coalition.

Growing lettuce and other leafy greens in a controlled environment presents its own set of challenges and opportunities. During United Fresh Live in June, Marni Karlin, Executive Director of the CEA Food Safety Coalition, moderated a discussion that outlined how indoor growers who make food safety a priority, rather than dismissing it as a problem unique to field-grown crops, can inadvertently create market opportunities for themselves. The panel featured growers of all types (greenhouses, vertical farms, and warehouses) and sizes. Here are a few insights from the discussion.

Don’t Overlook Irrigation and Growing Media

Jackie Hawkins, Senior Manager of Food Safety at BrightFarms, says irrigation water is likely potable if it comes from municipalities or wells. However, it can still be contaminated, so don’t assume it’s clean and forsake the necessary testing.“Test your incoming water, treat it if necessary, and test it again,” Hawkins says.

Growing media, as well, may not seem like a concern because many leafy greens producers are not growing in soil. “But the seeds might have been grown in media, so it’s important to do routine monitoring of your media as it comes into the greenhouse,” Hawkins says.

From Data Comes Solutions

Michael DeChellis, Co-Founder of Livingston Greens, a small indoor farm in Montana, says it’s critical for greenhouse producers to compile the data they’re able to collect from growing in a controlled environment to create a plan for developing a safer product.“

For small farms, working with other growers in the CEA Food Safety Coalition is a great opportunity,” DeChellis says. “Our members share data, and this culture of collaboration can help us identify ways to overcome challenges.”

For example, DeChellis cites a mold issue at Livingston Greens, which he addressed by using temperature and humidity data to highlight the problem area and the conditions that caused the problem.

Consider Design Upgrades

Simon Yevzelman, Managing Partner and Leader of Biosecurity at Planted Detroit, a vertical farm in the Motor City, says his company saw the concerns of food safety looming, so it opted to temporarily suspend production so it could enhance its production systems with food safety as a guiding principle.“

Thanks to those efforts, we are now in an expansion mode,” Yevzelman says.

Full Company Responsibility

Oscar Camacho, President of Superior Food Safety, a California-based consulting company, says any greenhouse production system should be designed to optimize best food safety practices.“

The system needs to work across the entire company,” Camacho says. “This means communication from one end of the production line to the other is critical.

Retailers and Consumers Care

Chris Livingston, General Counsel at Bowery Farming, a vertical farming company in New York, says the CEA Food Safety Coalition is currently developing a standard specific to controlled-environment production that addresses unique challenges such as water management and infrastructure.“

Our goal is to have a seal that members can use to show their customers they are complying with standards unique to our industry,” Livingston says. “We are also developing a research agenda based on food safety topics.”

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series, which will focus on how the coronavirus pandemic added value to CEA-grown leafy greens.

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