Protecting our Food System from Intentional Attack

John Shutske, Professor and Extension Agricultural Safety and Health Specialist
Ruth Rasmussen, Continuing Education Specialist
Debra Olson, Center for Public Health Education and Outreach and School of Public Health
Michele Schermann, Research Fellow
Heidi Kassenborg, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Michael Starkey, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Linda Glaser, Minnesota Board of Animal Health
Will Hueston, Center for Animal Health and Food Safety

Objective

Provide education and build informational networks and new relationships among key public and private sector officials to prevent or minimize the impact of an intentional attack to our agricultural and food systems.

Need or Impact

Professionals in private industry and governmental agencies often do not have the opportunities to plan, learn, and work together to protect our food system from intentional attack and from other food safety hazards. This effort, funded by the CDC brings together key individuals to learn in creative ways about the vulnerabilities and methods for protecting our food system from farm-to-table. Four full-day workshops were developed for people working in Minnesota’s food industry, including farming, food production, manufacturing, and regulation. Two tabletop exercises were created to simulate major emergency events to facilitate learning. The workshops focused on building relationships and planning to prevent and respond to food system emergencies, including the threat of terrorism.

Status

138 public health professionals attended one of the 2005 workshops in Marshall MN, West St. Paul MN, Wausau WI, or Bismarck ND. Project leaders assisted the Minnesota Department of Health and several other state and county in developing and evaluating a major emergency response exercise focused on the food system. Additional technical sessions, lectures, workshops, and information sessions were provided for approximately 500 participants in Minnesota and at national meetings. A new series three new onsite continuing education workshops have been developed for 2006 to bring the specific realities of food system operation and public health protection into practical focus. Each workshop is multidisciplinary and designed to build preparedness competencies and enhance practical emergency response linkages.