AgEmpowered.com
  • We've Gone Mobile!
    • Where's Deb Now?
    • A Day on the Road with Deb
  • Food Safety Updates
  • Be Audit Ready
  • Contact
  • About

Off to See a few FRIENDS in the busIness before farm# 4 Visit.

7/30/2020

 
And a friendly stop at a truck wash along highway 88 on way to Kansas. $40 for a wash and wax!! Decided on a name for the Coachman Leprechaun/Ford Transit van. The Little Irish Van office will be called “LIV”.
Picture
Had a nice visit with my friend and colleague Jerry and his family at JNJ Company in Kansas. Jerry assists packing operations with sanitation procedures throughout the U.S. and offers local horse farmers good agriculture practice education. He is the pastor of a local church and farms hay with his father.
Picture
Picture
Down the Yellow Brick Road skipping toward Colorado. If you’re ever in Kansas, be sure to try the smoked chicken. It is delicious!
Picture
Picture

Driving from Kansas to Eastern Colorado has a beauty all its own. Big sky’s, expansive prairies and large expressive church’s in each small town. This modest Elderberry winery caught my attention as it reminded me of stories my father told about gathering elderberries in the Eastern Sierras with his uncle to make wine. Shared it with friends along the way...it was quite good!
Picture
Picture
Arrived at Facility #4 on a Sunday evening. AgEmpowered office setup and ready to go when staff arrived Monday morning.
Picture
This cold storage and transportation facility complies to Sanitary Transportation, Good Manufacturing Practices, among other Federal, State and County requirements.  A generational operation, the ground you see in the above picture was a part of the families onion growing farm. The current generation has expanded the business to wholesale and transportation operations. It is always a pleasure to work here with the dedicated staff. This visit we are fine tuning the food safety program to comply with a new building expansion and conducting staff trainings on revised procedures.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
See you for audit week next year Farm #4! 




​Time for a short side trip to Garden of the Gods in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Picture
Driving thru Denver I noticed the sign on the right side of this famous stadium...If I was better at editing pictures, I would add AG in front of EMPOWER FIELD!  

Picture
Working on the road is most enjoyable when AgEmpowered office has a lovely view and is different each day or two. Here it is in Manitou Springs, a lovely historical town. Tomorrow a hike in the Garden of the Gods after a few hours working on food safety documents. 
Picture
Gardens of the Gods hike is a must if you are in the Springs area of Colorado! 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Stopped by to visit with another friend and colleague, Matt and his family after hiking. Matt represents a food safety auditing software, RizePoint (https://rizepoint.com/). A great time discussing the future of electronic food safety in the age of FDAs "New Era of Smarter Food Safety". (https://www.fda.gov/food/new-era-smarter-food-safety). Headed for Farm #5...California bound, interstate 70 is closed thru Aspen due to a fire...so its highway 50 this trip to meet up with 70 (sorry about the bug splat on the windshield).
Picture
Picture
 Just could not resist another side trip to Zion National Park! ​
Picture
Picture
Lunch stop at Debs Cafe (no mask required) along the Sevier River before reaching Zion National Park. A lovely view!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Worth the time to slow down and visit our National Parks!
Of course I pick the hottest day in recorded history to travel across the Nevada desert :( and the smoke! See you in California!
Picture
Picture

On my way to see Farmer JoHn Peterson at Angelic Organics, Farm #3, just up the road 3 hours from Farm#2.

7/27/2020

 
Picture
Picture
Overnight stop in a State preserve. Took a long walk alone the Rock River and reflected on this journey. Exactly how I envisioned I would spend this part of my career...helping family farms in all parts of the country!

Time to visit Farm #3 after a good nights rest in a quite park. Can’t say I missed the train from the last farm stay, but did miss the sound of the tractors starting up in the morning heading out to harvest the potato fields.

Picture
Driving in to Angelic Organics to assist them to fine tuning the farms food safety plan. Angelic Organics is a Community Supported Agriculture farm, growing vegetables and herbs. Check out their website at www.angelicOrganics.com. You will find a fantastic documentary film about the trials and tribulations of Farmer Johns plight to save his family farm. This is exactly why I do what I do. Fight on John Peterson!
Picture
After a full tour of the farm we sat down and worked on food safety documents that they will need to implement good agriculture practices. This Farm is using HeavyConnect for their electronic food safety documentation. They will be prepared to meet the food safety modernization act produce rule requirements after a few improvements to their field packing procedures and training of their workers  and volunteers. 
Picture
Upon leaving the farm, I was graciously handed some of the beautiful products grown at Angelic Organics and yes it was dinner! Never in my life have I tasted such sweet corn! Keep up the good work Angelica organics, we want to see your farm successful for many years to come!
Learn more about camps, workshops, educational farm stays and more at Angelic OrganicsLearningCenter: www.learngrowconnect.org

A few photos from farm #2 before moving on to next location. See you there!

7/25/2020

 
Shrine of the Virgin Mary at the Camino y Esperanza. A retreat for Marriage and Family. Many fieldworkers come to pray in the evening.
Picture
A beautiful Illinois sunset over the farm
Picture
AgEmpowered office on the farm. AMAZING! 

Picture

Successful audit day for farm #2!

7/25/2020

 
Picture
Food safety management system ✅
Picture
The Farm ✅
Picture
The Harvest Crew ✅
Picture
The Storage and Distribution ✅
Picture
And the HACCP ✅


A BIG SHOUT OUT TO CCI FOR THEIR EXCELLENT SERVICE, EASY SCHEDULING AND SEASONED AUDITORS. 
Picture
HEAVYCONNECT DASHBOARD AND APP ALLOWED THIS AUDIT PROCESS TO PROCEED WITHOUT A HITCH! GAVE AUDITOR PERMISSION TO SEE REQUESTED DOCUMENTS BEFORE AUDIT DAY. All OTHER DOCUMENTS, REPORTS, RESOURCES AND MORE AVAILABLE FOR AUDIT DAY ORGANIZED AND QUICK TO FIND WITH A CLICK OR SEARCH TAB. 
Picture
​GREAT WORK FARM TEAM! 

Four days of travel, happy i am not flying! So much to see AnD experience.

7/18/2020

 
Picture
Hay and grain crops to feed the large livestock industry here in Utah.
​
Picture
Beautiful big skies in Wyoming and more hay crops and cattle.
Picture
The state of corn and soy beans and more corn and more soy beans. Very windy today. Stayed in a wonderful RV camp surrounded by corn and cattle.
Picture
I bet you can tell the difference between the GMO corn in the heirloom corn. I found this demonstration in Iowa. 
Picture
Made it to Illinois and ready to empower Farm number two in their quest to strengthen Food safety and comply to the added requirements of their customers.
Picture
Can you identify this crop?

On my way to the midwest to farm #2

7/18/2020

 
Picture
Weighed my RV on my way out of Farm number one. To my surprise I am 1000 pounds under the GVW! I will have to stop at a farmstand and load up on some yummy local grown produce.

Farm visit #1

7/10/2020

 
Somewhere Oregon (to keep it confidential like a good consult does 😊). Some beautiful farm pictures and a happy AgEmpowered customer. 
Picture
Picture

Agriculture is alive and well

7/10/2020

 
Each time I travel I am always amazed at the amount of agriculture land we cultivate in the United States. And I am appreciating it even more now that I am driving through it rather than flying over it. Here is a snippet of my travels this week on my way to my first farm visit. Can you identify the crops?
Picture
SALINAS VALLEY, CA
Picture
 CENTRAL VALLEY, CA
Picture
KLAMATH VALLEY, CA 
Picture
GRASS VALLEY, OR

On the Road WE GO!

7/2/2020

 
Picture
Picture
Deb is off and running, bringing her expertise to you!
​Contact us for an onsite appointment today:  DebGarrisonConsulting@gmail.com

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020

All Rights Resevered © 2019 AgEmpowered.com
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • We've Gone Mobile!
    • Where's Deb Now?
    • A Day on the Road with Deb
  • Food Safety Updates
  • Be Audit Ready
  • Contact
  • About