Good Agriculture Practices

Globally-recognized, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) use Good Agricultural Practices as a collection of principles to apply for on-farm production and post-production processes, resulting in safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products. This is all done while considering economical, social, and environmental sustainability.

In British Columbia, BC blueberry growers are encouraged to use a whole-farm approach, covering all aspects of food safety of crop. These good agricultural practices will help growers to:

• Assess the risks of daily farming practices
• Minimize those risks
• Customize a program for each individual farm
• Streamline record keeping and traceability requirements

The BC Blueberry Council, Raspberry Industry Development Council, and the British Columbia Strawberry Growers Association have taken a proactive role in working with the industry to continue to provide our customers with high quality and safe berries.

Produce related food safety risks may be influenced by the physical, chemical and or microbial conditions under which the produce is grown, harvested, stored, transported or handled by the end user. All risks have the potential to cause food-borne illness.

To minimize the risk of contamination, BC berry growers are working to implement good agricultural practices (GAPs) on the farm. The key areas of focus for BC berry growers include:

• Water Quality
• Good Picking Practices
• Good Sanitation Practices
• Adjacent Land Use
• Chemical Application
• Manure Use

For more information, please see the BC Good Agricultural Practices Guides online.