Cooperative Extension developing food safety program for home cooks and vendors

Homemade pickles, jams, and sourdough starters became signature science experiments for many Americans amid the COVID-19 lock-downs. These aptly named “cottage foods” became so widespread that by the end of the pandemic, every state in the nation had passed legislation giving home cooks legal frameworks to take their products to market.

Just like a chemical laboratory, home kitchens are susceptible to contaminants that can pose serious health risks to people. Enter the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension’s cottage food safety program.

“We’re the business of preventing food-borne illness, and so that key is education,” Tracey Waters, food safety program coordinator, said. “We’re providing education that is above and beyond a typical online food handler’s card [program].”

The only obstacle between Arizonans and the market is obtaining their food handler’s card. State lawmakers passed HB 2042 in 2024, expanding the cottage food program to allow Arizonans to sell nearly all food types to the public, including perishable and meat-containing items.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people. They kind of assumed that someone was going to come in and inspect someone’s home kitchen,” Hope Wilson, associate agent of the Family, Consumer and Health Sciences department, said.

She explained that unlike a local restaurant, cottage food vendors are regulated by the state, which “doesn’t have the capacity” to inspect home kitchens in the program.

“We know no one intends to make someone sick or anything,” she said. “We’re just providing additional education.”

As the first of its kind in the state, the three-hour food safety class is hands-on training tailored to home kitchen environments. Currently in development, it will allow participants to earn their food handler’s card while going “above and beyond” in food safety instruction.

Crucially, accessibility is the main design principle for the curriculum, which serves to demystify food safety procedures for cooks without commercial kitchen experience. Once implemented, the extension plans to offer the class for a $20 to $30 fee.

Across ten modules, participants will learn to track and manage food safety criteria effectively, among them personal hygiene, cooking temperatures, cross-contamination, food storage and transportation.

The program centers hands-on learning and visual aides to help participants understand cryptic food safety concepts. In one such exercise, participants rub a liquid “germ” solution on their hands and surfaces. A black light on the surfaces illustrates the invisible staying power of cooking agents such as raw chicken juice.

Bree Daugherty, senior program coordinator for AZ Health Zone, has worked on developing the program’s demonstrations. As a former health inspector, she has experience teaching essential practices such as calibrating thermometers for food and refrigerators, correct glove use, and using sanitizer test strips.

“If they understand the concepts and the practices, and we’re able to give them that thinking space here when they’re doing it, they’re more likely to actually do it when they go home,” she said.

Other examples, like a home-friendly dish-washing system that simulates a commercial kitchen’s three-compartment sink, serve to increase home kitchen operation efficiency and safety at once.

The three women have collaborated with various stakeholders including The Arizona Department of Health Services and farmer’s market representatives to create a comprehensive and locally-oriented course. The first pilot class will take place on June 15.

As a work-in-progress, the women seek to incorporate participant feedback before rolling out the program in Yavapai and Mohave counties, with the potential for statewide implementation.

The class represents just one aspect of the Cooperative Extension’s mission of translating science into practical knowledge, strengthening the health and resilience of Arizonans through various programs and workshops.

Wilson pointed out that food safety training is a valuable life skill for everyone, regardless of commercial ambitions.

“I mean, it’s so eye-opening once you have knowledge to it,” she said. “It’s like you can’t unsee things, you know, you just handle things very differently.”

Editor’s Note — A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years.