Prior studies conducted by our research group highlighted
expert and produce grower decision-making in phase-one and
phase-two, respectively. Phase-one synthesized information
collected during expert interviews2 to develop a model of their
perceptions and beliefs of the influences shaping expectations of
outcomes and decision-making, which was used to frame phasetwo
interviews.3 This data both captured a verbal review of current
knowledge and state of the art understandings of on-farm food
safety. This permitted a synthesis of information to occur that
helped to identify the correct questions in subsequent phases. In
phase-two, interviews with farmers examined knowledge of produce
growers to identify areas of overlap and difference between
expert and non-expert groups. This provided a cross-check between
expert and grower perceptions that highlight key areas to
measure in phase-three, presented in this study that quantified the
findings of the first two phases and more broadly tested the measures
of produce grower decision-making. The final two phases of
the larger project were shaped by these findings to develop audience
specific, risk-based messages (phase-four) that used adult
education models and evaluated them for effectiveness in