Item No. 1 of 1

INVESTIGATOR: Ruzante, J.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE
3040 CORNWALLIS RD
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA 27709

IMMERSIVE FOOD SAFETY TRAINING TO SUPPORT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL AND MID-SIZED FARMERS

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: RTI International is partnering with Virginia Tech and North Carolina State University to develop and deliver innovative and highly engaging training, education, and outreach materials that will provide small and mid-sized operations with interactive learning modules on pre- and post-harvest water sampling and testing, and soil amendments. Virtual tours of a small diversified produce operation and a farmers' market will also be developed to enhance the in-person food safety training conducted by our University partners and designed for the targeted audience. FSMA rules will guide the development of the curriculum and a suit of virtual reality technology will be used to design the learning modules. Modules will promote situational awareness and will stimulate the critical thinking of participants by immersing them in real-life scenarios. Modules will be in English and Spanish.Our university partners are recognized food safety extension experts and specialize in providing long-lasting food safety training and technical assistance to small and mid-size farms, beginning farmers, socially-disadvantaged farmers, small processors, or small fresh produce merchant wholesalers. RTI International, a nonprofit research organization, has extensive experience in working with the United States government, leading multi-institution efforts, and is among the pioneers in the development of immersive technology applications for food safety.Previous needs assessments and the recent pandemic of COVID-19 highlight the need for more online learning tools for food safety. Our project addresses this need as it proposes to develop innovative training, educational and outreach materials that are interactive, science based, measurable, culturally sensitive, and rooted in FSMA.

OBJECTIVES: The major goal of this project is to provide owners and operators of small to mid-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, and small produce merchant wholesalers with innovative and highly engaging online food safety training and technical assistance that meet their needs and help them improve food safety and protect public health. By using state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) tools, our team of experts at RTI International, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State University will develop interactive online learning modules on pre- and post-harvest water sampling and testing, and soil amendments. Virtual tours of a small diversified produce operation and a farmers' market will also be created to enhance the in-person food safety training conducted by our University partners while respecting social distancing and travel restrictions.Objectives:Design and develop bilingual VR learning modules for small and mid-size operations: VR tools will be used to develop 1) interactive online learning modules that use a game-like approach to teach pre- and post-harvest water testing and sampling principles and practices and soil amendments management procedures and 2) 360-degree virtual tours of a farmers' market and a small diversified produce operation that will be available online and as immersive modules to be integrated into current in-person food safety trainings to enhance learning.Deliver and disseminate learning modules: The pre- and post-harvest water testing and sampling, and soil amendments modules will be posted on YouTube and available online via a desktop or laptop computer (i.e., computer-based). The virtual tours will be offered both as part of in-person training workshops conducted by our university partners (i.e., immersive) and online. Modules will be disseminated through our strong network of governmental and nongovernment institutions, including our local network of small and mid-size operations in Virginia and North Carolina.Evaluate the effectiveness of the learning modules: We will develop, test, and use questionnaires to assess the effectiveness of both computer-based and immersive learning modules. Outcomes measures will be defined in conjunction with SC. We will also track users' performance by monitoring metrics such as the number of correct answers, rate of clicks on pop-ups, and time spent on different portions of the module. For the immersive 360-degree video modules, integrated with the in-person training, we will also evaluate the fidelity of the delivery, which measures outcomes such as the level of participant engagement and ease of use of the head-mounted display (HMD).