Ensuring Food Safety among Food and Agricultural Nonprofit Organizations: A Review of Literature about Challenges and Opportunities

Food and agricultural nonprofit organizations (FANOs) are a critical part of the food supply chain, requiring evaluation of their food safety assurance within the production, preparation, and distribution of food. This article provides an overview of literature and policy surrounding food safety in nonprofit organizations, particularly FANOs, and proposes opportunities and challenges in FANO research. It addresses the prevalent risks of foodborne illnesses associated with FANOs with poor food safety practices. Three specific problem areas that need to be better addressed in FANO research were revealed. First, poor food safety practices in FANOs can lead to food loss and waste. Second, inadequate food safety behaviors and practices among volunteers are a unique issue that FANOs face due to high volunteer turnover and reduced training time. And third, there is a large disparity between who is regulating and enforcing food safety in FANOs. Potential research questions and methodological limitations of conducting research on each problem area are proposed.