La Semilla Food Center is a community-based organization and food hub that serves the needs of non-traditional, niche, and hard-to-reach grower audiences in the Paso del Norte region. Through this Food Safety Ambassador Program, La Semilla is reframing food safety as a practice that is rooted in community care and worker well-being and safety, rather than centering regulatory aspects or technical skills. 

We are continuing to partner with active farmers in our region who are not generally covered by the Produce Rule and who are not typically represented in food safety specialist spaces. This is why we have established an ambassador program that meets the needs of our local partner farmers in delegating food safety processes that are culturally relevant and impactful to the growers within La Semilla’s growing agroecology network. Every year we extend our Food Safety Ambassadorship scope where farmers in our region share their lived experiences to realize a shared vision of food safety justice. 

We are intentionally working with farmers who represent a wide range of agricultural backgrounds, including indoor farming, mushroom farming, farming alongside animals, year-round farming, and landless farming. This diversity ensures that our curriculum includes the rich and relevant experiences of many of the farmers we serve. Our curriculum, which is rooted in decolonizing and indigenizing food safety concepts, will have multi-county and state-wide impact. 

Join us as we continue to be stewards to the land and learn together in creating a food safety curriculum rooted in the lives of a growing network of farmers.

To learn more about the Food Safety Ambassador Program, email us at jeanette@lasemillafoodcenter.org.