As part of the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) certification process, a team of two highly trained auditors performs an audit based to EFI’s social, IPM/pollinator health and food safety
standards. To keep the audits consistent and meeting high standards, EFI gathers with the team of auditors annually and holds a week-long training. This year’s training was held at EFI-certified grower, Stemilt Growers, in Wenatchee, WA. There, the group of auditors learned from tenured professionals in the industry about auditing with a trauma-informed approach, cutting edge food-safety and much more.
Training auditors to approach an EFI audit with a trauma-informed approach that leads to human connection is critical to completing a successful EFI audit because a large portion of the audit includes interviews with farmworkers in both group and one-on-one settings. To elicit honest and open feedback from workers about topics as sensitive as recruitment fees and labor trafficking requires an expert and delicate approach.
EFI works to make the audit process smooth and effective, understanding that each operation is unique and that they undergo multiple audits every year. By taking on the three-pronged approach of food safety, social and IPM/pollinator health in single audit, EFI has reduced the number of audits operations need each year, reducing fatigue and freeing up employee time. The auditor training aims to further reduce the audit burden by creating an audit environment that is a coordinated and effective.
“An auditor is a fundamental part of the EFI Certification process, therefore EFI takes on the task of providing in-depth orientation and calibration training for new and approved auditors to ensure audit criteria are objective and growers are audited in an equitable way. This is what really sets EFI apart. The training emphasizes soft skills such as interviewing (trauma-approach interviewing), empathy and awareness; criteria for assessing food safety culture and pest management practices, while providing tips for self-care and work-life balance. EFI is among the few standards that provide this type of comprehensive training to its auditors.” – Karla Cook, Certification Manager, EFI
Learn More
Find out more about EFI Certification. Schedule a free one-on-one consultation with EFI staff to learn more about how the EFI Program can help ease audit burden and create a culture of change at your operation by clicking here.
