Welcome to the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) section of the University of Connecticut Integrated Pest Management Web Site.
The College of
Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension Food Safety Program is
participating in a New England regional GAP project.
We plan to bring information to produce farmers so that they have the
skills needed to reduce the risk that their fresh produce will be contaminated
with microorganisms that can make people sick.
Our Mission
This
project includes several parts.
1)
First we surveyed farmers and consumers from New England to get the
"lay of the land." We
wanted to find out if farmers were already employing Good Agricultural Practices (even though
they may not call them that!) and what types of sanitation practices they were
using in the fields and in the packing house.
In addition we asked consumers if they were concerned about the safety of
produce and if they were willing to pay more for produce grown with GAPs.
2)
Next we tested lettuce, apples, strawberries, and tomatoes harvested from
NE farms to see if there were any pathogenic (sick-making) microorganisms there.
Overall
results from the surveys and summaries of the testing (for all of New England)
are available from dhirsch@canr.uconn.edu.
3)
We have developed a series of fact sheets on Good
Agricultural Practices that are available on this site.
We can also come out to your site or speak to your group regarding GAP.
Please fill out the response form after you read the fact sheets.
Finally,
if you farm in Connecticut or Rhode Island, we invite you to participate in our voluntary GAP audit program.
After you have read the fact sheets and have implemented GAP
practices (or discovered that you are already using them), we will send our
UConn Plant Science Dept. staff member to perform an audit of your operation.
If you are able to show that you are using Good
Agricultural Practices, you will receive a placard to post that indicates
you are participating in the voluntary audit program. The audit form is available on this site for your review.
Contact Information
If
you have any questions, you may contact the GAP
contact person in Connecticut or any New England state.
University
of Rhode Island (lead
state):
Lori
Pivarnik
pivarnik@uri.edu or
Martha
Patnoad
mpatnoad@uri.edu
University
of Connecticut:
Diane
Wright Hirsch dhirsch@canr.uconn.edu
University of Maine:
Mahmoud El Begearmi
mahmoud@umext.maine.edu
University
of Massachusetts:
Rita
Brennan Olson
ritabo@nutrition.umass.edu
University of New Hampshire:
Catherine Violette catherine.violette@unh.edu
University of Vermont:
Dale Steen dale.steen@uvm.edu
-
| 
