Located at Oregon State University, the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety is one of four US regional centers that were created to coordinate food safety training programs resulting from the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
In 2015, OSU was awarded a $1.2 million three-year grant from USDA-NIFA Food Safety Outreach Program to establish the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety. The main focus of the Center is to develop and support trainers that deliver FSMA-related workshops targeted towards small- and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, and small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers affected by FSMA.
The long-term goal of WRCEFS is to improve food safety through training of a wide array of stakeholders across the western region of the U.S. This is accomplished through cooperation and partnerships with Land-Grant universities in western regional states. Because of the diversity of crops and climate zones within the region, WRCEFS is divided into four sub-regions that encompass 13 states and two territories:
- Mountain sub-region: CO, MT, NM*, NV, UT, WY
- Northwest sub-region: ID, WA*, AK, OR
- Pacific sub-region: HI*, American Samoa, Guam
- Southwest sub-region: CA*, AZ*
*Lead state for sub-region.