Food Protection Trends - July/August 2022 - 299

purchasing it from FMs, 81% answered " always " and only
6% answered " never " (P < 0.05, χ2
= 270.62) (Table 5).
Khouryieh et al. (12) also found that >85% of the consumers
at Kentucky FMs washed produce at home. An early
consumer survey conducted for the FDA in 2006 revealed
that the frequencies of washing bagged lettuce, cantaloupes,
tomatoes, and strawberries were 54, 57, 97, and 98%,
respectively (27).
Hand washing is considered an effective approach for
preventing cross-contamination and reducing foodborne
pathogens, especially in consumers' home kitchens (2, 7, 13).
In the present study, 86.7% of the participants always washed
their hands before preparing perishable foods in their home,
results similar to those of a previous study by Khouryieh et
al. (12), who reported that almost 90% of the consumers
always washed their hands before food preparation. Washing
hands before preparing foods has been adopted by a large
share of consumers. However, questions about the use of
soap and the duration of hand washing were not included in
this questionnaire but should be considered in future studies.
Concerns and responsibility for food safety at FMs
Survey participants were also asked about their concerns
related to the safety of perishable foods at FMs; 26.3% of
the participants were either extremely or very concerned,
and 53.8% of the participants were only slightly or not at
all concerned (P < 0.05, χ2
= 28.65) (Table 6). Our analysis
based on education level (Table 7) indicated that consumer
concerns about the safety of perishable foods at FMs might
be associated with consumer education level. For example,
among the 123 respondents who were not or only slightly
concerned about food safety at FMs, 63.4% (78 respondents)
had a bachelor's or graduate degree, a significantly higher
percentage (P < 0.05, χ2
= 9.07) (Table 7) than the 36.6%
(45 respondents) who did not have a 4-year college degree.
Differences with regard to the education of participants
also were found among those who were very to extremely
concerned about food safety at FMs (Table 7). Khouryieh et
al. (12) also found that consumers without a college degree
were more concerned about the safety of perishable items at
FMs than were respondents with a college degree.
When the survey participants were given options for who
should be most responsible for food safety risks at FMs
(consumers, farmers, vendors, or government), 34% of them
believed that farmers should take most of the responsibility
for the safety of their foods sold at FMs, 30.5% thought
vendors should take this responsibility, and 26% believed
that consumers themselves should be responsible for food
safety (Table 6). Only 9.2% (P < 0.05, χ2
= 46.21) thought
that the government, including food safety inspectors and
health inspectors, should take major responsibility for food
safety issues at the local level. These results are consistent
with those obtained by Khouryieh et al. (12), who reported
that 43.0% of the consumers at Kentucky FMs considered
themselves to be the major responsible parties for the safety
of food at FMs. In contrast, the consumers that Jevšnik et al.
(11) interviewed believed that farmers should take major
responsibility for food safety at FMs instead of themselves.
The participants in the present study realized that food
safety is the responsibility of all parties, including farmers,
vendors, and the consumers, especially at the local level
because some federal food safety regulations, such as the
FSMA regulations (26), offer some degree of flexibility for
small local communities. Because communication among
small produce growers, state regulatory agencies, and FM
consumers about the safety of locally grown foods will not
likely occur on its own, the cooperative extension programs
from land-grant universities such as WVU should assist in
developing and disseminating information on the food safety
concerns of various stakeholders, including consumers.
Formal and informal education opportunities related to food
safety at local FMs should also be provided (19).
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this survey study suggest that consumer
participants purchasing perishable foods at local FMs
appeared to have some understanding of practices regarding
microbial food safety, such as washing hands and produce
when preparing foods at home. Although survey participants
may have had little knowledge of the particulars involving
temperature control, they did know that temperature control
is related to microbial food safety. The results of this study will
be of interest to university cooperative extension specialists
and agents in states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania,
and Michigan and can be used to develop local food safety
education programs, such as general food safety short courses
on foodborne pathogens, home refrigerator temperature
measurement and control, and preparation of perishable foods
in home kitchens, and course-related fact sheets could be
distributed to consumers at FMs. Because the survey sample in
this study mainly comprised individuals with a college degree,
future studies are needed to include more participants without
college degrees, especially those in rural and mountain areas
referred to as hard-to-reach communities.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture,
the Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA)
Capacity Building Program (grant 2018-70001-28938), the
AFRI-Critical Agricultural Research and Extension (CARE)
Program (grant 2019-68008-29828), and the Research and
Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) program
2019-05064 (award 2020-68018-30657). The authors thank
the WVU Extension Service Small Farm Center for their
generous assistance during the project period.
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