FDA gives $1.5 million to support FSMA education, training, and technical assistance

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing $1.5 million of continued funding, in the form of cooperative agreements, to the University of Arkansas Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative and the National Farmers Union to enhance food safety under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

These competitive funding opportunities were announced in November 2019 and are intended to support targeted outreach, education, and training to enhance food safety and FSMA compliance, with a focus on the produce safety and preventive controls for human foods rules. One cooperative agreement, awarded to the University of Arkansas Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, focuses on outreach, education, and training for Native American tribes, and the other was awarded to the National Farmers Union to support outreach, education, and training for local food producers and processors. Both awardees will continue to work toward meeting the unique needs of their target audiences while leveraging the use of materials developed by the FSMA alliances.