Table of Contents
I. Welcome 3
II. Introduction 4
III. Structure 5
IV. Membership 6
V. Executive Order 7
VI. Accomplishments 8
VII. Current List of Task Force Grantees and Points of Contact 9
Welcome
Congratulations on your award of the FDA’s Food Protection Taskforce Conference Grant!
It is our mission as the Division of Federal-State Relations to offer guidance, information and resources to our customers: you. This book is a compilation of best practices assembled by a working group of experienced and accomplished taskforce leaders in an effort to serve you in developing and growing your taskforce. We look forward to working with you to provide greater food safety and defense capabilities to better serve the citizens of your state.
Joe Reardon
Director, Division of Federal-State Relations, FDA
Division of Federal-State Relations Contacts
5600 Fishers Lane
Room 12-07, HFC-150
Rockville, MD 20857
Matt Wojtkun, Public Affairs Specialist, 301-827-4303,
Matthew.Wojtkun@fda.hhs.govMeghan Anderson, Public Affairs Specialist, 301-827-9507,
Meghan.Anderson@fda.hhs.govJenny Gabb, Contract Project Specialist, 301-827-2899,
Jennifer.Gabb@fda.hhs.gov Introduction
The Food Protection Taskforce grant, which began in 2003 with an initial funding level of $5,000, is available to state, local, and tribal governments to convene stakeholders in food safety. These stakeholders form Taskforces that consist of government, industry, academia, and consumer groups that create an effective state-wide infrastructure for outreach, response, and information sharing. Recently, the grant increased to $10,000 and the language is being broadened for participating states to use funds not just for meetings, but for a wider array of food safety activity. Currently, there are 28 state Taskforces, including five new states joining this year.
Food safety is a core public health issue even though the U.S. food supply is among the safest in the world. With today’s far-reaching and complex food supply chain, there is an increasing need to find more effective solutions to better protect American consumers by preventing intentional and unintentional food contamination. President Obama has made a personal commitment to improving food safety. In July 2009, Obama established the multiagency Food Safety Working Group to help come up with a renewed plan for a national integrated food safety system. As the principal conduit between the Agency and the state departments of health and agriculture, DFSR plays a significant role in ensuring that states are organized, prepared, and communicating with the Agency and one another. The Taskforces, uniquely positioned within states as a convener of stakeholders in food safety, can and should be an effective solution within the greater national food protection framework. This cooperation has resulted in greater awareness of potential vulnerabilities, the creation of more effective prevention programs, new surveillance systems, and the ability to respond more quickly to outbreaks of foodborne illness. However, changes in consumer dietary patterns, changes in industry practices, changes in the U.S. population, and an increasingly globalized food supply chain and new pathogens and other contaminants pose challenges that are requiring us to continually update our current food protection strategies.
As DFSR implements new communications mechanisms and pushes the Taskforce model internally, senior officials within the agency have taken note of the potential of the grant. A July 2010 call with the Taskforce network that highlighted the accomplishments of each state impressed the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods, who praised the work done thus far, was convinced that the Taskforce model has the potential to be a major contributor to the national integrated food safety system.
Structure
A Taskforce’s structure is essential to the success and overall effectiveness of the grant funds. Determining the organizational and leadership apparatus of your Taskforce will depend on any number of factors, including but not limited to size, industry landscape, and interested parties of your state. Each state is unique and has its own set of strengths and challenges, and your state will ultimately settle on a structure that will reflect that uniqueness. For example, Taskforce grant funds could help support a preexisting structure, or it could present the opportunity to jump-start and formalize a group of food safety stakeholders. Below are examples of various structures employed by current Taskforce grantees:
Single Body/Steering Committee (BALANCE is IMPORTANT!!)
A Single Body committee is a simple and effective group for organizing a state’s food safety stakeholders. This smaller group that composes a Taskforce’s leadership makes coordinating meetings easier, dividing tasks to move forward with state-wide initiatives simpler, and often provides for equal representation from stakeholder groups. It is often the case that each individual member of the Single Body represents one whole stakeholder group, eliminating the need to split into smaller committees. One of the main advantages of the Single Body structure is strong participation.
Committees/Sub-Committees
The Committee structure builds off of the Single Body apparatus. In addition to the core leadership group inherent in the Single Body, committees, led by a chairperson, will be formed around stakeholder expertise of any given topic or issue. Examples of committees from other Taskforces are Food Program Managers, Local Directors of Environmental Health, Regulatory, and Industry. When devising committees, it is important to consider the advantage of a well-represented cross-section of personnel involved in prevention, intervention, and response. Committees present plans to Single Body/Leadership group.
Membership
The size of each Taskforce varies in size from each state and range from 150+ members and growing as the state's play a vital role within the National Integrated Food Safety System. Membership encompasses representatives from agencies that oversee food safety and play a role in public health. Affiliates of industry, academia, public health, law, associations, consumer groups, food transportation, food processing and government are all well represented in the membership of the Food Protection Taskforces.
Examples:
• State University or College
o Department of Food Science
o Nutrition and Safety
o Research
• Beef Industry
• Poultry Industry
• Feed
• Department of Agriculture
• County, City, State Health Officials
• Food & Drug Administration Local Representative
• Inspections & Appeals
• Laboratories
o Radiological
o Chemical
o Microbiological
• Department of Public Health/Board of Health
• Senator’s Office Representative
• Governor’s Office Representative
• Milk Industry
• Produce Industry
• Food Packaging
• Environmental Health Agency
• Health Inspector
• Retail Food Representative
• Law Enforcement
• State Veterinarian’s Office
Executive order establishing Taskforces
In a few cases, the Taskforce grant has been strengthened through an executive order by a state’s Governor that defines the Taskforce’s purpose as a coordinator of interagency and public-private efforts to enhance protection of your state’s food supply, and as a primary mechanism for communication during an outbreak or recall. An executive order transforms your Taskforce from an ad hoc group of stakeholders to an official piece of a state’s food safety apparatus, employing the assistance and support of state agencies and other resources.
An example of an executive order from North Carolina can be found at:
http://www.governor09.nc.gov/NewsItems/ExecutiveOrderDetail.aspx?newsItemID=845 Accomplishments
While we are working to expand the language of the grant, many Taskforces have used the award as a vehicle to further food safety efforts and build a framework for communication with their stakeholders. Recent accomplishments that have developed from the Taskforces range from public health programs such as Iowa’s “Did You Wash ‘Em?” hand washing campaign to partnerships such as Massachusetts’s Coalition for Food Safety and Defense.
Highlighted below is a list of some recent activities within the Taskforces:
o “Did You Wash ‘Em?” Hand Washing Campaign (Iowa)
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafety/consumers/index.cfm?parent=280
o Indiana Food Emergency Response Plan (Indiana)
o Massachusetts Coalition for Food Safety and Defense Directory Educational Conferences (Massachusetts)
http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/environmental/foodsafety/food_safety_directory.pdf
o Food and Agriculture Defense Workgroup (Michigan)
o Small Food Processor Entrepreneur Workshop (Missouri)
http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/agopp/FSTFannouncement.pdf
o North Carolina Fresh Produce Taskforce (North Carolina)
http://www.ncmarketready.org/ncfreshproducesafety/
o Commissioner’s Food Safety Forum (North Carolina)
http://www.ncagr.gov/ncfoodsafetyforum/
Current Listing of Task Force Grantees & Points of Contact
FIRST LAST STATE EMAIL
Lance Hester AL lance.hester@agi.alabama.gov
Susan Parachini CO susan.parachini@state.co.us
Peggy Keller DC peggy.keller@dc.gov
Bruce Zahradnick FL zahrada@doacs.state.fl.us
Travis Goodman IN tgoodman@isdh.in.gov
Adam Inman KS Adam.Inman@KDA.KS.GOV
Pamela Hendren KY PamelaM.Hendren@ky.gov
Diane Stacey LA dstacy@ldaf.state.la.us
Diane Bernazzani MA Diane.Bernazzani@state.ma.us
Alan Taylor MD alant@dhmh.state.md.us
Heather Brewer MI brewerh9@michigan.gov
David Read MN david.read@state.mn.us
Mary Glassburner MO Mary.Glassburner@dhss.mo.gov
Charlene Bruce MS charlene.bruce@msdh.state.ms.us
Melissa Tuemmler MT Mtuemmler@mt.gov
Cris Harrelson NC cris.harrelson@ncdenr.gov
Denis Blank NE denis.blank@nebraska.gov
Joyce Montero NH Jmontero@dhhs.state.nh.us
Jeff Witte NM jwitte@nmda.nmsu.edu
Anna Vickrey NV avickrey@dairy.state.nv.us
Mike Talkington OK mike.talkington@oda.state.ok.us
Ami Patel PA ami.patel@phila.gov
John Dunn TN john.dunn@state.tn.us
Karen Gruszynski VA Karen.gruszynski@vdh.virginia.gov
Seth Levine VA Seth.Levine@vdh.virginia.gov
Claudia Coles WA ccoles@agr.wa.gov
Linda Whaley WV Linda.K.Whaley@wv.gov
Dean Finkenbinder WY dfinke@state.wy.us
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