Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The demand on global food production has increased along with the rising global population and higher incomes. With technological advancement, controlled environment agriculture has gained recognition as a climate smart solution to support growing food demands. Foodborne disease outbreaks have been reported in different countries and leafy greens and microgreens grown in indoor farming systems have been identified as some of the possible sources of transmission. Sweden has also experienced several incidents of foodborne disease outbreaks associated with leafy vegetables. Indoor farming systems in Sweden are on the rise and leafy greens and microgreens are commonly grown in most of the indoor farms. Farmer perception and food safety practices of these indoor farms have not been studied extensively. Hence, the aim of this study was to provide an insight into the food safety practices associated with indoor farming systems in Sweden. The study was designed with a triangulation approach and data collection included an online survey (N=17), semi-structured interviews (N=5), and site observations (N=5). The online survey revealed that 58% of leafy green growers were not aware whether their products comply with product safety rule whereas 67% of microgreen growers mentioned that their products do not comply with product safety rule. Only 17% of microgreen growers and 8% of leafy green growers stated that their products comply with the product safety rule. Annual revenue of responded indoor farms ranged from <50,000 SEK to >500,000 SEK. Internet as well as trial and error were mostly used for learning indoor cultivation by 50% of the microgreen growers, whereas the majority of leafy green growers (70%) learned using trial and error. Wholesalers/distributors were the sales channel of the majority of microgreens farms (83%) and leafy green farms (67%). Grocery stores were a sales channel used by 50% of leafy green farms whereas 33% of both microgreen farms and leafy green farms were selling to commercial restaurants. Food safety training was received by 33% of microgreen growers and 50% of leafy green growers. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews identified three major focus points for farmers’ perceptions: knowledge and awareness of food contamination, food safety certification and food safety management. Farmers’ challenges were also identified into three major focus points: establishing a culture of safety and hygiene, hardship of guaranteeing safe inputs and resource allocation. Site observations revealed that indoor farms without food safety certification did not have a specific food safety management system. In some farms, employee hygiene, farm cleanliness and sanitation were not adequately maintained. Based on study findings, it is concluded that food safety awareness of Swedish indoor farms in general is low, food safety awareness among these farmers is concentrated on harvested product but not on conditions during cultivation and link between perceived and actual food safety level is weak.