The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announced funding for eight projects under the competitive Food Safety Education Fund grant program. Grants are awarded each year for development and delivery of curricula and training to food service establishments and regulators; and for increasing food safety awareness for consumers through outreach and development of educational materials.
“MDARD is committed to ensuring food safety and protecting Michigan’s food supply for the health and well-being of its residents,” said MDARD Food and Dairy Division Director Tim Slawinski. “Ensuring food safety and preventing foodborne illness is a multi-step process from farm to table, and everyone plays a role. Education, training and outreach are vital steps in that process.”
The Food Safety Education Fund was established under the Michigan Food Law of 2000, as amended, Sec. 4117, and is funded through assessments from each Michigan food establishment’s annual licensing fee. The fund provides grants for industry, regulator and consumer food safety education and training.
This year, the department received a total of 18 grant proposals, requesting funds totaling $683,314. Of those, MDARD awarded eight projects totaling $243,335.72. The FY2020 Food Safety Training and Education Grant recipients are:
- Great Lakes Conference on Food Protection (training and scholarship funds for state and local food safety regulatory staff), $25,000;
- Michigan Dairy Industry Conference (milk safety training and education for dairy industry and regulatory staff), $5,000;
- Michigan Environmental Health Association (food protection training for environmental health professionals), $31,000;
- Michigan Restaurant Association (Year 3 of 3-year proposal – multi-media food safety education campaign for consumers, industry and regulators), $46,834, with matching funds of $73,000;
- Michigan Restaurant Association Education Videos, $21,000, with matching funds of $28,000;
- Michigan Farmers Market Association (statewide consumer food safety education and outreach on Cannabis products sold at farmers markets in Michigan), $28,463;
- Michigan State University (consumer food safety education on creating “Buyer Beware” consumer awareness campaign on making safe food purchases), $46,455.47; and,
- Michigan State University (Regulator and food establishments staff training on proper processed meat processing), $39,583.25
Food safety resources for consumers and food industry professionals, including materials developed from Food Safety Education Fund grants in previous years, can be found at www.MichiganFoodSafety.com or www.michigan.gov/FoodSafety. For more information, contact the MDARD Food and Dairy Division at 800-292-3939.
