the release of specific rules and curriculum for practices that meet
these criteria, which is an opportunity for these findings to assist
this process.
Finally, while there are few differences in knowledge or barriers
across grower scales, those that were identified show potential
areas to focus outreach and research efforts for addressing fresh
produce food safety: irrigation and compost for larger growers, and
facility and equipment sanitation for smaller growers. All growers
can benefit from robust GAPs training and resources that address
the barriers to adoption that exist within and across scales. This can
be accomplished by tailoring efforts to small growers by identifying
and then verifying effective, scale-appropriate sanitation practices
that may already be in use by some, and irrigation and water
treatment solutions for larger scale growers. These practices are
likely to exist among growers at varying scales but will require
further investigation to identify them.