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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2019 Producers look to CanadaGAP for certification


Buyers want assurances about how produce reaches the table


by JACKIE PEARASE VERNON – BC’s horticulture


industry is acknowledging the need for effective, certified food safety procedures in fresh produce operations by adopting CanadaGAP. Twenty-nine people


participated in a two-day workshop at Community Futures North Okanagan in late February to learn more about implementing good agricultural practices (GAPs) into their production and harvesting procedures. The procedures are needed to obtain CanadaGAP certification. CanadaGAP received full


recognition from the Canadian government as meeting good agricultural practices in food safety in


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2009, and as of February 1, 2018, there were over 2,000 farms on the CanadaGAP registry, including more than 500 in BC. BC Ministry of Agriculture


food safety specialist Elsie Friesen says the program is an effort to ensure all parts of the food chain – from farm to consumer – are safe, transparent and accountable. Commodities like eggs and


dairy have their own on-farm safety programs; processors of meat and other products are highly regulated, as are retail food safety practices; but fruit and vegetable producers have been without any such oversight until now, she notes. “CanadaGAP is an industry


program promoting an industry standard that fills that gap,” says Friesen. Recent cases of


contaminated fruits and vegetables causing illness and even death have underlined the need for certification of fresh produce operations. “The retail and processing end of the food chain are saying that anything that comes off the field has to be certified,” Friesen explains. “You need to ensure it comes off the farm safe.” There are different


certification options for producers within the CanadaGAP program, with the choice based on their buyers’ requirements. There are also specific options that meet international benchmark requirements. Two CanadaGAP manuals, one specific to greenhouse operations and another for fruit and vegetable operations, were developed by horticulture industry experts and are based on a rigorous hazard analysis applying the seven principles


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of hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP). Friesen says the two-day


workshop provides information for production and harvesting but operations that include packaging and storage require a more in- depth approach that includes HACCP instruction.


Intricate details North BX Haskap Farm


owner Mike Klymchyk says the workshop was an eye-opener. “The course is filled with lots of intricate details that are good to know ahead of time,” Klymchyk says. He says implementing


better food safety procedures at his Vernon farm so he can be CanadaGAP-certified helps ensure public safety and opens up new markets for his product. “It gives the buyer groups the confidence that we’re


growing to the required standards,” he notes. Friesen says buyers are


starting to ask for CanadaGAP certification and she expects savvy consumers to also start seeking such assurances. Producers wanting to get


certified must first download the manuals, enrol in the program through CanadaGAP, implement the practices outlined in the manuals, and pass a third-party audit by a certified body. The manuals are filled with


resources, checklists and templates and CanadaGAP also offers producers extra assistance. “We have the on-farm food


safety implementation program which is funding they can apply for,” adds Friesen. “And we have a funding program for your first audit because audits are expensive.”


A first audit can range from $700 to $1,200, which includes a fee to CanadaGAP and the cost of the auditor’s time and expenses. The lure of certification is


obvious in that the free Vernon workshop filled up before it was even advertised, with producers coming from outside the area, including Kamloops and Chetwynd. Community Futures North


Okanagan business services coordinator Kazia Mullin organized a second CanadaGAP workshop in March specifically for producers in the immediate region because so few local farmers were able to attend the first one. “We try to be as responsive as possible to businesses’ needs,” Mullin says. “Agricultural business is a real priority for Community Futures; it’s the backbone and big part of the identity in the North Okanagan.” The success of the


we irrigate the world


workshop and ongoing interest in CanadaGAP prompted Mullin to notify other Community Futures offices that they also need to offer the workshop in their areas.


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