Southwestern Pennsylvania farmers seeking to join the trend toward food safety certification can now get free help through The Progress Fund's Produce Grown Here program.

The Progress Fund reaches out to farms that serve some of the region's premier buyers of local produce and offers to help them prepare for Good Agricultural Practices, or GAP, certification under principles set by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

One way for a farm to show it incorporates sound management principles is through GAP, which is a process developed by the USDA and FDA and administered by private auditors that ensures water, soil, topography, personnel and sanitation all maximize food safety.

GAP certification "tells the buyer, who doesn't know the farmer and who doesn't know the farm, that the product is safe," according to David Eson, Produce Grown Here project manager.

For more information on The Progress Fund, call 724-216-9160 or visit www.progressfund.org.