On-site interview of New England gardeners to assess food safety knowledge and practices related to growing and handling of home grown fresh fruits and vegetables.

摘要

This study aimed to develop and implement an on-site interview as a follow-up, in-depth probe to a regional mail survey that had been used to assess food safety knowledge of home gardeners with regard to fresh fruits and vegetables. The interview was used by investigators to enhance the understanding of the original survey data by probing topics associated with documented low knowledge scores. 94 home gardeners of fruits and vegetables from 5 New England (USA) states volunteered to participate in the interview. A structured, on-site questionnaire was developed and carefully scripted. Master gardeners from each state were recruited and trained to conduct the on-site interviews and were instructed to gather information only. Respondents answered 19 questions in the following categories: safety of organically grown produce, bacterial contamination (human and garden sources), water safety, safe use of compost/manure, health and hygiene, and post-harvest handling. Qualitative data and descriptive analysis was used to assess the demographic variables. Home gardeners, although they acknowledged that they could get sick from consuming produce, did not seem to be aware that contamination could come from a variety of sources such as soil, compost, fresh manure and/or the water supply. Results indicated that there was a 'disconnect', or lack of understanding, of the sources and mechanisms of pathogenic bacterial contamination as related to its homegrown produce.