Food safety practices are important in every stage of food production, preparation, and consumption. Gooda gricultural practices have been developed by agriculture, and government agencies, and each step in the process is inspected or monitored. It takes teamwork to ensure the safe and abundant food supply we enjoy!
PRODUCTION: At the farm, soil and water are tested for pathogens and monitored to prevent contaminates.
TRANSPORTATION: En route, and at all stages, pro- duce is kept at its ideal tempera- ture. If refrigerated, the cold chain cannot be broken at any point.
PROCESSING: Sanitary conditions continue with equipment sterilization, and maintained during washing, pasteurization, cooking, freezing, and/or packaging.
DISTRIBUTION: Employees at grocery stores and restaurants follow rules and procedures during food handling and preparation.
Consumer
Wash all fruits and vegetables in clean, running water before eating them—including produce with rinds. Use clean knives and cutting surfaces, and wash your hands prior to handling food.
Career Presentation
Research a career in agriculture and present it to your class or family. Include a description of the career, required education, and projected income. Visit agriculture. purdue.edu/USDA/careers for ideas.
Standards ELA – Grade 3: Writing 2.2; Listening & Speaking (LS) 1.5; Grade 4-6: Writing 2.3; LS 2.2; Grade 7: Writing 1.2, 1.4; LS 2.3; Grade 8: Writing 1.4, 2.3; LS 2.3
Tracking with Technology
Sophisticated data collection is available to track specific products from the field where they were grown to your local market. Produce in more than 35 million clamshells have been tracked with codes since 2007! Scan the following containers to find out where the produce came from or enter the codes at kids.learnaboutag.org/wgo10/foodsafety.
Track strawberries: 1021
Track spinach: 9958
Activity
Use facts from this page, and the word bank, to complete the crossword.
ACROSS:
2. Harvests kept cold continuously
3. To continuously check
6. Free from contaminants
7. Thick outer skin
DOWN:
1. An organism that causes harm
2. Produce grown by a farmer
4. Plastic hinged container
5. One who produces plants