Dive Summary:
- The Department of Agriculture recently released information on this year's specialty crop grants, allocating 8.4% for food safety initiatives.
- These grants are directed for small scale farms growing fruit, vegetable and tree nuts.
- The money is slated to help farmers achieve GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices) and GHPs (Good Handling Practices) in order to minimize contamination and food-borne illness.
From the article:
"It's a green light for food safety from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2012 specialty crop grants, with 8.4 percent of the total number of grants going to food safety projects - among them research, education, training and initiatives. The focus of many of these grants is directed toward smaller-scale farms. Specialty crops are defined by the USDA as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and other nutritious foods such as herbs and mushrooms, as well as nursery and horticultural crops. Although the percentage of this year's food-safety awards is a little smaller than the percentage foc..."
