Suggested food handling guidelines for Farmers Markets, fairs and festivals
Are you having difficulty negotiating with your local health department with regards to the types of products available at your market? Are your vendors cooperating with your wishes to insure proper food handling procedures for your shoppers? Consider our book, From the Field to the Table. It has helped many community markets to navigate through the maze of bureaucracy by providing a clear and common sense language for food handling at farmers markets. Written by Catherine Drake and Beverly Swango.
We have incorporated From the Field to the Table: Suggested Food Handling Guidelines for Open-Air Farmers Markets and Fairs into the food handling practices at the Crescent City Farmers Market, and know that everyone (both vendors and customers) benefit from its clarity and thoroughness. It is a practical response to a recognizable shift in consumer concern about food quality and safety. In the past decade, consumers have demonstrated an insatiable appetite for farmers markets and the opportunity to reconnect to food sources — safe food sources. In an article about food safety in the September 1, 1998 issue of Newsweek, author Adam Rogers reflects many people's feelings when he wrote, "when farmers sell their own food, the product doesn’t pass through numerous hands and giant distribution centers that increase the risk of picking up pathogens." Indeed, farmers markets do generally provide fresh, superior produce. This document provides markets with the means to demonstrate how. Please feel free to download PDF copies of the manual below:
Addendum 1: Labeling Guidelines for Pre-packaged Foods
Addendum 2: Basic Sources of Food Contamination
Addendum 3: HACCP Guidelines -- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
Addendum 4: Directions for Construction of a Portable Display Guard for Unwrapped Baked Goods
Addendum 5: Statement for Acceptable Retail Sale of Citrus in the State of Louisiana
Addendum 7: Fresh Produce and Scales
Addendum 8: Hand Washing Mechanism Suited for Open-Air Farmers Markets
Addendum 10: Application for Permit to Operate in the State of Louisiana
Addendum 11: Sample Sketch for Rabbit or Quail Slaughter Houses
Addendum 12: Sample Quail Labels
Addendum 13: Our Experience with Cooking Demonstrations and Samples
Addendum 14: Sanitary Code of the State of Louisiana: Retail Food Establishments: Markets