North central region produce grower training: Pretest and posttest knowledge change and produce safety behavior assessment

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether there was knowledge gain and behavioral change by produce growers within the North Central Region (NCR) of the United States who participated in the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training. Over a 2-year period, the 25-question knowledge assessment was administered to participants (n = 2,286) at the beginning and at the end of each 8-h training to measure knowledge gain. Behavioral change was assessed using a survey 12 months after the training. Average scores measuring the participants’ knowledge increased significantly from pretest (16.1 of 25, 68%) to posttest (20.0 of 25, 80%) (P = 0.001). On average, participants in trainings not targeting special populations (n = 1,735) improved their scores more than participants in trainings for special populations (n = 509) (P = 0.001). Of growers, 199 (72%) of 276 who responded to the follow-up survey indicated that they had made a behavioral change, such as writing or modifying farm food safety plans (n = 108), implementing different training for employees on food safety (n = 108), and modifying food record-keeping systems (n = 98). The results indicate that behavioral change did not correlate with knowledge gain. Educational materials should be developed to encourage both knowledge and behavioral change.