Online tool helps U.S. farmers secure supply chain

Online tool helps U.S. farmers secure supply chain    The U.S. Health and Human Services Department's Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have created a free online tool to help farmers and producers assess and mitigate vulnerabilities in their supply chains.
   'This assessment tool helps the producer understand how someone intending to disrupt agriculture might think,' said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in a statement Friday. 'Producers can easily identify weak spots in their operation and receive practical advice on countermeasures they can put in place.'
   The tool, called 'Agriculture CARVER + Shock,' was originally developed by the U.S. military to identify areas that might be vulnerable to attack. The FDA and USDA worked with Sandia National Laboratories to adapt the model to the food and agriculture sector to evaluate potential vulnerabilities in the supply chains of different foods and food processes.
   'Farms of all sizes can benefit from this tool,' the USDA said.
   Producers are asked a series of questions about each component of their production process. Based on the responses, Agriculture CARVER provides scores for those components and specific risk mitigation measures are recommended. 'These might include upgrades or enhancements to physical security, process operations, or a change in personnel practices,' the USDA said.
   The agencies said any information entered into the program is not recorded or retained.