found that therewas a need for
improvement in water testing, record keeping, and sanitizing containers
and food contact surfaces among NewEngland growers who
had overall high adoption rates of many other produce safety
practices; Farm scale was not evaluated in that study. In a recent
study exclusively focusing on small and mid-sized farms (Harrison
et al., 2013), researchers found a small percentage of growers in
Georgia, Virginia, and South Carolina needed improvement on
manure application timing, irrigation and wash water source
testing, with some having limited restroom and handwashing facility
access. DeLind and Howard (2008) and Stuart (2008),
conversely, each draw on documented outbreaks of foodborne
illness to support their concerns that experts and policy-makers are
erroneously focusing on the wrong end of the production scale
when most incidents are associated with larger-scale production
systems and distribution networks. While a single voice does not
determine policy or develop regulations, and the context or strength
of these statements can be argued, these statements and other like
them shape the larger discourse on the subject influencing the
approach to risk identification and development of solutions.