Richard Ha writes:

Hamakua Springs Country Farms was inspected this past Tuesday by Davis Fresh Technologies for its ProSafe Food Safety certification program. This is the independent, third party Food Safety certifier we work with to ensure that we comply with “Good Agricultural Practices.”

This food safety certification is something we do completely voluntarily. It’s not required in our business. It involves a lot of extra work, cost and time but we consider it very important because it results in a better work environment for our people and it makes them proud to work for a responsible company. Through its structured organization, the certification helps us to manage our operation. And, finally, it gives our customers confidence in our product and our Hamakua Springs brand.

We think we did well on this inspection. We will receive the final report in a few days.

The ProSafe certification program was designed in response to the U.S. Government’s food safety concerns as addressed by the FDA and USDA in their “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.” This guide describes “Good Agricultural Practices,” which reduce food safety hazards.

The guide covers agricultural and post-harvest water uses, worker health and hygiene, field and facility sanitation, transportation and traceback. We know our customers expect a certain level of care regarding our growing crops for their consumption, and the ProSafe certification program gives credibility to the extent of the care we take in growing our crops.

Some of the guide’s important points are:

When water comes into contact with fresh produce, its quality determines the potential for contamination.

Agricultural water. If water is of good quality, risk is low. We evaluate water samples for heavy metals as well as for bacterial content. We document and maintain records throughout the year. We use county water for all our spray water since it comes in contact with the edible portions of our crops.

Processing water. We use good quality water wherever it comes into contact with fresh produce, and monitor and document water quality throughout the process. For example, we know that bacteria need approximately 350 milivolts of electricity to hold itself together. Therefore, we maintain chlorine in the water so that there is at least 550 milivolts in the water. This causes the bacteria to come apart upon contact. We monitor and record the measurements of the wash water throughout the day and keep the records for inspections.

Cooling Operations. We maintain temperatures that promote best produce quality and minimize bacterial growth. And we keep our cooling equipment clean and sanitary. This includes inspecting and cleaning Young Brothers containers before loading and shipping. We document the inspection as well as the course of action for each container that we ship out. The records are available for inspection at any time.

Worker Health and Hygiene. We know that infected employees increase the risk of transmitting food borne illnesses. So:

We train employees to follow good hygiene practices. We do not allow employees with open cuts or lesions to come into contact with fresh produce. Neither do we allow workers with signs of infectious disease to handle fresh produce. We maintain records to show that all workers receive training in these areas.

Sanitary Facilities. We provide toilet facilities that are accessible to everyone and maintained by an outside service on a regularly scheduled basis. In addition, we check the facilities on a daily basis. We provide hand-washing facilities that are adequately supplied with soap and paper towels. Maintenance and resupply is documented and the record is maintained and available for inspection.

Field Sanitation. Fresh produce may become contaminated during pre-harvest and harvest activities from contact with soil, fertilizers, water, workers and harvesting equipment.

We harvest our produce into plastic totes that are washed and sanitized prior to each use. The harvest totes are placed on wooden pallets. We are a hydroponic operation and by its nature this gives less opportunity for contamination.

For example, we use sterile media. We do not use soil, compost or manures. The floors of the hydroponic houses are covered with a weed barrier and so the fruit cannot come into contact with soil. In addition, the houses are covered with plastic that acts as an umbrella. This prevents splashing of water and soil onto the fruit, thereby lessening the chance of contamination.

Packing Facility. We do not use secondhand boxes. Packing materials are covered and stored on pallets, not on the floor. Plastic totes are cleaned and sanitized and packers use gloves when handling the produce, which is always packed into new clamshells and boxes.

Pest Control. We maintain a 10-foot weed-free barrier around the packing facilities. We set rat traps outside the packing facilities to manage rat populations near the facility. We maintain a log that indicates when bait was changed and whether or not we caught any rats.

Transportation. We make sure the Young Brothers containers are washed and sanitized before we load up. In addition, we make sure that the product is sent at the temperature that is optimum for its type.

We have written procedures on how fruit is to be transported from the field to the packing house. We require newly harvested fruit to be stored in refrigeration as soon as it comes in from the field.

Traceback. We have formal procedures in place to recall product in the event it becomes necessary. We do mock recalls periodically, where we partner with distributors and simulate a situation where we recall a batch of product. We have pack dates on each box of product that we ship, which allows us to track the box.

We stringently enforce all of these procedures on a day-to-day basis. The most important result is that these procedures protect our workers from bacterial and infectious disease situations. Secondarily, it an important management tool that we use to manage our farm effectively. And finally, it gives our customers assurances that our brand stands for good food safety practices.

(Photos: Craig Bowden and Tracy Pa go over some of our standard operating procedures; Tomato Packing House Supervisor Ida Castillo logs data re: the sanitation schedule for harvesting totes.)

Richard writes:

Hamakua Springs welcomes Charlotte and Rodrigo Romo, along with their two beautiful daughters, to Hawai‘i and to work with us at the farm.

June and I met Charlotte and Rodrigo, who were living in Tucson, on the first of our three trips to attend a course on greenhouse agriculture at the University of Arizona. Charlotte saw our names on the list of attendees and noticed we were from Hawai’i, and she came over to talk to us. We chatted for a little bit and liked her a lot right off the bat. When we met Rodrigo, we definitely got the impression that they loved it when they visited Hawaii. We were surprised to learn they knew Hilo and liked it so much.

By the third trip that June and I made to the University of Arizona, we all agreed that Charlotte and Rodrigo would come and work with us. It’s a big plus that they are closer in age to Kimo and Tracy, the next generation of Hamakua Springs.

Charlotte and Rodrigo both have a strong sustainable agriculture ethic. I was especially impressed to learn they had lived in Biosphere 2.

I just love young people who don’t know what they cannot do. I am a Vietnam veteran and I saw lots of young kids over there leading groups of men and being responsible for millions of dollars of equipment. They had no idea they were not supposed to be able to handle those kinds of responsibility; they just did it.

We are very pleased to have Charlotte and Rodrigo on board with us. We all have the same philosophy: “Not, no can–Can!!!!”

On their first weekend in Hilo, Charlotte and Rodrigo came to visit us at the Hamakua Springs Ag Expo booth and they ended up on the front page of the Hilo paper in a large, color picture. This must be a good omen. We cannot be more pleased.

Stay tuned for Part 2: What they’ll be doing with Hamakua Springs. Coming soon.