School Food Service Workers Complete ServSafe Training
Posted: February 11, 2010
School food service employees from five school districts recently participated in a day-long food safety in-service taught by Iowa State University Extension specialists Cindy Baumgartner and Jill Weber. The training was part of the Farm to School project in northeast Iowa.
The participants were from Postville, Oelwein, Turkey Valley, Decorah and Howard-Winneshiek schools and the GROWN Locally farmer cooperative.
ServSafe® is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The training focuses on food hazards and proper food handling practices to keep food safe and protect the establishment against foodborne-illness outbreaks. Participants learned about prevention, regulatory requirements, and how to improve food quality.
Participants have the option of testing for certification upon completion of training. All the participants passed the exam and are ServSafe® certified for five years.
In February, additional food service workers will participate in a 2-hour food safety training. Funding for both trainings was provided by Farm to School grants from the NE Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
For more information about ServSafe or Farm to School, contact Cindy Baumgartner at 563-927-4201 or cbaum@iastate.edu.
