Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
Produce Safety Alliance, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 Jul 2;15(7):e0235507. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235507. eCollection 2020.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training programs were developed to provide guidance to fruit and vegetable growers on how to reduce food safety risks on the farm. These programs have been enhanced over the years due, in part, to increasing buyer and regulatory requirements. However, the costs of implementing additional food safety practices has been identified as a primary barrier to long-term farm financial feasibility, particularly for smaller scale producers. A survey of past participants in New York State revealed that increasing food safety improvements facilitated by GAPs have not significantly impacted the size of farm operations or the types of crops grown. In terms of farm size, we show that both the financial costs and financial benefits of food safety improvements increase with farm size, but at decreasing rates. In so doing, relatively higher market sales gains per acre by smaller farms from additional food safety investments offset the relatively higher costs to them of their implementation. We also demonstrate that benefits of food safety improvements were significantly higher for farms that had third-party food safety audits and for those that market primarily through wholesale channels. The results should prove welcome by educators as they encourage participation by all scales of producers in GAPs trainings and for growers in understanding that food safety investments can support both reduced microbial risks and sales growth.
良好农业规范（GAP）培训计划旨在为果蔬种植者提供指导，帮助他们降低农场的食品安全风险。这些计划近年来得到了加强，部分原因是买家和监管要求不断提高。然而，实施额外食品安全措施的成本已被确定为长期农场财务可行性的主要障碍，特别是对于规模较小的生产者而言。对纽约州过去参与者的调查显示，GAP 促进的食品安全改善并没有显著影响农场经营规模或种植作物的类型。就农场规模而言，我们表明食品安全改善的财务成本和收益都随着农场规模的增加而增加，但增加的速度在下降。因此，较小农场通过额外的食品安全投资获得的每英亩更高的市场销售收益，抵消了实施这些投资对它们的相对较高成本。我们还表明，对于那些进行第三方食品安全审计的农场和主要通过批发渠道销售的农场，食品安全改善的收益要高得多。这些结果应该受到教育工作者的欢迎，因为它们鼓励所有规模的生产者参与 GAP 培训，并让种植者了解食品安全投资可以支持降低微生物风险和销售增长。
