Establishing the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) as the National Coordination Center for Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance

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Project Summary / Abstract Under this award, the International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, will be established as the National Coordination Center (NCC) for Food Safety Training, Education, Outreach, and Technical Assistance. As the NCC, IFPTI will provide overall leadership for support and coordination of Regional Centers (RCs) created under separate funding. Specifically, the FDA/NIFA program will address the needs of owners and operators of small and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small on-farm processors, and small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers. These key target audiences may have limited access to adequate and affordable food safety training, education, and technical assistance necessary to help them: 1) comply with new requirements under FSMA related to produce safety standards; and 2) establish appropriate produce safety measures consistent with existing guidance and industry best practices. As the NCC, IFPTI will: establish standardized system for the development of competency-based produce safety training curricula for the intended audiences; oversee the design, development, and delivery of competency-based produce safety training for the intended audiences; oversee creation of a cadre of produce safety trainers; equip the produce safety trainers with the competencies necessary to be effective instructors via the IFPTI Instructor Skills Training course and the IFPTI Course-Specific Instructor Training course; maintain frequent communication with RCs, stakeholders, and FDA program staff via site visits, face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, and webinars; oversee the creation and implementation of all program assessment and evaluation tools; collate regional impacts into an overall annual national impact report; serve as an information and communication liaison between FDA and the RCs; and identify and recruit food safety and food industry professionals to act as informational resources to existing and future RCs.