IPI Farms is pleased to announce that it has successfully met USDA’s acceptance criteria and passed an audit for the USDA Good Agricultural Practices & Good Handling Practices certification.
IPI is one of just 10 producers in the state of Iowa reaching this level of quality and food safety.
The program covers IPI production of twelve different fruits and vegetables grown at ISP Farm 3 in Montrose, Iowa.
The American food supply is among the safest in the world, but the FDA estimates that there still are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually—the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans each year. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP) are intended to minimize the risk of contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables caused by microbial pathogens.
Jim Johnson, Nursery Worker II and Laurie Wardlow, Nursery Worker I, implemented and oversee the food safety program for IPI. “We had to develop a complete Food Safety program for the farm, and then train all of the staff and inmates”, said Laurie.
IPI’s Food Safety program covers areas such as Traceability, Water Quality, Worker Hygiene, Pest Control, Pesticide Application, and Sanitation.
Under the leadership of Mike Lynch, the IPI Farm team began working on GAP and GHP in 2014. In addition to several internal audits, the team conducted a Mock Recall with one of the DOC institutions.
Along with the JBU inmates working at Farm 3, the following IPI Farm employees were instrumental in developing the IPI Food Safety Plan and passing the USDA audit:
Congratulations to the IPI Farm team!