Webinar: Compost and the FDA Produce Safety Rule - Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Are you a farmer who uses compost on their fields? A composter who sells to the farming community? A regulator who oversees rules relating to compost quality or on-farm compost use? This webinar will dive into FDA Produce Safety Rule Subpart F, which affects any farm applying stabilized compost to fields producing crops for human consumption in the United States.

Soil amendments are any material growers add to the soil to improve its physical or chemical properties and promote better crop growth, including compost and fertilizer. Subpart F focuses on biological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAO), or amendments that contain animal-derived feedstocks, like manure or animal mortalities, and can include pre- and post-consumer waste like table scraps. Proper use of soil amendments is critical for managing soil fertility, improving soil quality, and often results in healthier and tastier crops. However, soil amendments, particularly BSAAOs, that are untreated or inadequately treated prior to application can contain harmful human pathogens that can cause foodborne illness in consumers. Though the current focus of Subpart F is on BSAAOs, composts made with post-consumer food wastes may be affected in the future.

In this webinar, Adriana Jimenez Lopez, Produce Safety Expert at the FDA, will provide an overview on the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule and draft guidance from the FDA to understand the current regulatory framework and requirements regarding soil amendments, with a focus on compost. This webinar will

Help growers understand risks and benefits of using BSAAOs and how to comply with the current requirements. This topic is especially relevant to growers of specialty crops that are typically eaten raw and produce covered by the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule (PSR).
Help growers and compost producers understand farmers’ annual documentation requirements to demonstrate a valid composting process was used, and that the compost was handled, conveyed and stored in a manner and location to minimize the risk of re-contamination.
Touch on how FDA’s Supbart F interfaces with USDA’s National Organic Program standards for time intervals between the application of untreated BSAAO on cropland.

This live webinar took place on September 8, 2023.

Watch the Recording

This webinar is Part 9 in a On-Farm Composting & Compost Use Webinar Series the Institute for Local Self-Reliance offers to support a distributed and diverse composting infrastructure that includes community-sized and on-farm composting. To view and listen to our library of past composting-related webinar recordings, click HERE.

PRESENTER

Adriana Jimenez Lopez – Produce Safety Expert, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA
Adriana serves as the Produce Safety Expert within the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Office of Food Safety, Division of Produce Safety, Fresh Produce Branch. There, she works with a team called the Produce Safety Network and is assigned with the Northeast region. Some of our current duties include providing technical assistance to produce stakeholders, to assist with technical questions and Produce Safety Rule interpretations. Her office works with outreach and education not only for their state partners but also for international partners and industry on the PSR, as well as with their policy team for developing guidance for industry.

Previously, she worked as an ORA Consumer Safety Officer (CSO) food investigator, with the Division of Human and Animal Food East, where she conducted regulatory domestic inspections and in-depth investigations of various industry establishments, such as: food manufacturers, animal and medicated feed mills, tissue residues and food warehouses. Her work as a CSO also involved trace-back investigations, recall follow-ups, routine sample collections and environmental sample collections.

Adriana has also worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in the State of WV, as a Soil Conservation Technician and later as a Soil Conservationist. During her time with NRCS, she primarily worked directly with landowners in developing effective soil and water conservation plans, promoting Good Agriculture Practices, and addressing resources concerns related to soil, water quality and plants. In addition, she maintained a cooperative working relationship with conservation partners, such as the Soil Conservation Districts, state, and other local government agencies.

MODERATOR

Linda Bilsens Brolis – Composting for Community
Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
Linda’s work focuses on promoting composting as a tool for regenerating soils, supporting local food systems, and fighting climate chaos. She manages ILSR’s Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Composter Training Program and leads ILSR’s work advancing on-farm composting.