AN IN-PERSON MEETING OF THE FOOD SAFETY EXTENSION NETWORK: SUPPORTING CONSUMER, RETAIL, AND HOME-BASED BUSINESSES

The Food Safety Extension Network (FSEN) was created in 2021 to support the growing need for food safety support in the areas of consumer home food preservation, retail, and cottage foods/home-based businesses. Extension specialists in the southern region recognized a need to enhance the applied food safety research and outreach demands of our stakeholders. The FSEN aims to facilitate expertise sharing, training, and resource creation and dissemination within the land-grant system, facilitated by three subcommittees covering respective industry segments and relevant associated topic areas. The FSEN first gathered in person in June 2022 and spent three days together discussing goals, proposed organizational structure, and funding mechanisms. The FSEN is continuing to establish a model for membership where institutions for collaboration and leveraging resources efficiently across institutions. Simultaneously, efforts are underway to consolidate resources and generate collaborative materials, complemented by the drafting of memorandum of understanding (MOUs) for member institutions and publication guidelines. The FSEN plans to gather in person again in June 2024 to continue this work. Specific objectives include 1)Finalize membership and committee structure models and publication guidelines 2)Complete draft of MOU for university review 3)Make decisions regarding FSEN communications and social media 4)Share updates from subcommittee work and current FSEN-focused FSOP project 5)Networking among new and existing FSEN members 6)Identify technical priority/funding for projects and funding sources.