Twenty-two farmers from VallejueloSan Juan province, became the first graduates on the Safety of Fresh Agricultural Products that, as part of the Trade Safe Project (TraSa, in English) is executed in the country by the Center for Agricultural and Forestry Development (CEDAF)
During the graduation ceremony, Brian Rudert, director of TraSa, said that this institution “wants to support these types of initiatives because the whole world, the Dominican people, and tourists who come here want to know where their food comes from; in what state, how was it produced, and how safe is it?
Meanwhile, Arismendy Rodríguez, CEDAF training coordinator, congratulated the graduates for successfully completing all the contents of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of the United States.
Rodríguez said that with the implementation of the Farmer Field School (ECA) during the training process, graduates increased their knowledge by 68% on food safety, “which shows the effectiveness of this agricultural extension tool.”
He explained that The TraSa Project It is carried out in the Dominican Republic with contributions from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), through the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), a non-profit economic development organization based in Washington DC
The graduation It was held on the farm of Luis Peña, manager of P&T Valley Farms, an export company supplied by the graduates, and was attended by David Stein and Lauren Miller, from IESC. For TraSa were Brian Rudert, Carlos Puello, Carlodys Almeyda, Georgina Corporán and Lando Reyes, and for CEDAF Arismendy Rodríguez and Wilma Núñez.
Gratitude
Luis Peña, Manager of P&T Valley Farms, thanked TraSa and CEDAF for bringing them so much knowledge about the FSMA Law “’which gives my clients security that I am able to produce them safely”.
Likewise, Marlenny de la Cruz, Administrative Manager of P&T Valley Farms, expressed her happiness that “we are enjoying the fruit of the training, not only for our company, but for the sector in general.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Modernization Act (FSMA) is the most radical reform of the food safety laws of that country in more than 70 years, the which was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. Its goal is to ensure that the US food supply is safe by shifting the focus from pollution response to prevention.
Other companies whose supplier producers are currently being trained by CEDAF on the subject of food safety include the Association of Producers of Oriental Vegetables (Asoprovego), from La Vega; Tropogrown SRL, from Villa Altagracia; OTC Organics Dominicana, from Valverde and Transna Trading Group, from Monte Plata.