Sen. Boozman, FDA leadership to discuss ag and food safety at IFPA's Washington Conference

International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) announced that Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark., and FDA leaders Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for Food Policy and Response, will participate in The Washington Conference event to be held in D.C. Sept. 26-28.

“The Washington Conference is the only event for the produce industry to meet face to face with the leaders who write the policy and regulations that directly impact our industry,” said Rebeckah Adcock, vice president of U.S. government relations at IFPA, in a release. “Those who attend will be in the position to directly influence the critical issues that will have long-term impacts on the industry, and, most importantly, they will have access to food and agricultural leaders like Sen. Boozman, Deputy Commissioner Yiannas and Mayne as they provide their insights on the opportunities and obstacles for the industry.”

Sen. Boozman will participate in the Opening General Session on Sept. 27 and will share his insights and vision of how the industry can address agriculture policies. Sen. Boozman is the highest-ranking Republican working directly on agricultural issues and will lend his years of experience advocating for and creating policy that impacts the nation’s agriculture sector, according to the release.

Mayne and Yiannas will speak the afternoon of Sept. 27 during a session titled “It’s Time to Focus on ‘Food’ at FDA.” The session will highlight key produce safety initiatives and partnerships that can serve as a model for collaboration as produce faces the future of food safety as an industry.

Attendees can visit the schedule of events for the complete list of programming.   

IFPA says opportunities to engage with leaders and policymakers will include:

·      More than 150 meetings with U.S. Senators and House Representatives. 

·      Three administration briefings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the United States trade representative.

·       Four embassy briefings with key staff from the embassies representing Canada, Chile, Columbia and Mexico. 

The Embassy briefings and meetings with Congress will take place Sept. 27-28.

The event schedule also includes The Joy of Fresh on Capitol Hill event and a series of programming to address key business issues impacting the produce industry as well as sessions to prepare industry members to share their stories and these issues with Representatives.

IFPA said key issues include: The Farm Bill reauthorization, Nutrition, Workforce and labor reform, and food safety. More than 30 experts will be joining the panels for these sessions from both the industry and government, including speakers from the American Business Immigration Coalition, Produce Alliance, National Restaurant Association, Bowery, Dole Food Company, Grimmway Farms, and the co-chairs of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance.  

For the full schedule and to register for the event, click here.