Good Agricultural Practices

Photo from The Coalition of Immokalee Workers website.

The last week has been spent in Tampa for an FDA course on Food Outbreak Investigations focusing on the fields where produce is grown. Since it was for my job I can't write about all of the awesome stuff I learned. I can say that if it is information that you are interested in learning about you can look up, "Good Agricultural Practices" online. There are "Global Gaps" and "Gaps for the Garden". All great information!

The top link is the hard core sciency info and the second link is the easier to read guide for home growers of fruits and vegetables. Both are full of great information! The last link is to the CIW website where I obtained the above picture. Enjoy!

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/ProduceandPlanProducts/ucm064574.htm

http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/26428.pdf

http://ciw-online.org/inthefields.html

As some of you may have noticed, I have been away from the blog for a couple of months. Life had gotten a bit crazy and something had to give. It was the blog.

I wish I could say that while I was a non blogger amazing insights burst into my subconscious and somehow the meaning of life became clear. No such luck. I am still me, I still have the same job and life is still lovely. My garden is chaos, my work fulfilling and my health is better than ever before. Life still throws hiccups at me and I still freak out about deadlines. Yet what I did learn is that sometimes you need to step away to see if something really matters enough to continue putting forth your personal effort.

In the past I have done the same with yoga ( still going strong), a couple relationships (that didn't usually work out well) and a couple of sucky careers ( Guess how that worked??). Blogging drew me back. Maybe no one will ever read or care about what I write. Maybe I may not write often. It is an outlet for me when the frustrations of my life build and I can't call my boss and tell him I am done. I can simply log on and escape onto writing about life and food.

So here I am. Back to write and hopefully have some fun along the way!!

Hugs!!

Jo