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Last week California LGMA hosted U.S. Food and Drug Administration Officials on a tour featuring farming practices, harvest practices, equipment design and sanitation as well as processing facilities.
On May 24, 2022, a lone gunman entered an elementary school in Uvalde, TX and shot and killed 19 students and two teachers, injuring 18 others. In addition to the lives lost and injured, the additional tragedy was the lack of action by the police and others charged with public safety. Why did this happen? Police clearly knew they should enter the premises and take out the shooter. Numerous studies on the so-called “bystander effect” have shown that people in large group settings are less likely to step up in an emergency. In fact, studies show the bigger the group, the less likely it is anyone will help.
LGMA staff and industry members were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Hank Giclas, who played a pivotal role in advancing leafy greens food safety and creating the LGMA food safety program. Hank’s career included over 30 years at Western Growers from 1990 until his retirement in 2020.
In May 2022, the California LGMA and STOP Foodborne Illness provided an update to the 2014 video, titled The Why Behind Food Safety, to continue to tell the stories of Rylee, Lauren and Dan. The updated video can be used in concert with the first to drive home additional food safety culture messages.
The produce industry is one-of-a-kind, impacted by a variety of factors from weather to cost of inputs, regulations and food trends. And while the produce industry is no doubt unique, there are powerful lessons that can be found by looking across sectors, particularly to industries that share a common charge: protecting consumer safety.
When Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine in 1953, he was feted in a New York ticker-tape parade and hailed as the “great doctor-benefactor of his time.” Compare that to today, when scientists and the institution of science overall are often met, not with praise, but with skepticism.
