Food Safety

Food Safety is paramount to our farm. It is always first and last thing on our minds.

Michael Family Farms utilizes the latest technology to manage pests during the growing season. In-field and transport policies include general sanitary practices as well as sanitary transportation of food requirements.

Our packing facility passes stringent yearly food safety audits conducted by 3rd parties. Our high grade is led by an on-site Quality Assurance/Food Safety Manager as well as policies and procedures that support the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Each load of raw product that arrives at the facility undergoes an USDA equivalent inspection and then is inspected prior to departure. Daily and weekly walk-throughs are conducted to ensure all aspects of our food safety policies are enforced.

All trucks that transport product to or from our facility undergo an inspection for condition, cleanliness, pests, and foreign material. Trailer must also be free of odor and spoilage. Temperature verification is completed during receiving and also pre-cooled before loading.

Sustainability efforts

Our commitment to innovation and environmental stewardship have always been cornerstones of our business.  We’re very proud of the quality of our products and our commitment to sustainability.

Michael Family Farms, one of the growers of Side Delights® potatoes, implements regular sustainable practices across its facilities such as alternative energy usage, water conservation, sustainable farming practices, responsible packaging, recycling and other environmentally friendly efforts. We have always been stewards of the land, committed to sustainability. For 25 years, sustainability has been measured by the three Es –Environmentally sensitive, socially Equitable and Economically viable.

Collectively with our partners in the Fresh Solutions Network, we engage in numerous efforts to fulfill this commitment while ensuring the quality of our products and the safety of our consumers. Below are a few examples we or our FSN partners have implemented towards this effort.

Alternative Energy

  • We employ hundreds of solar panels and dozens of wind turbines to power our buildings and storage sheds.
  • We capture, clean, use and reuse methane gas from a nearby landfill to power our machinery.

Water Conservation

We use a water cleaning system, that we built, on the farm to recycle water for reuse to ensure we conserve our precious water supply.

Sustainable Farming Practices

We leverage sustainable farming practices from the type of planting & harvesting machines we use on the land, to our conservative crop rotation program to ensure we improve the land for our next generation/our children, of farmers.

Responsible Packaging

We are working with world-class packaging manufacturers to develop and use alternative, eco-friendly packaging material (sustainably farmed paper-based bags, starch bags, and recyclable bags) to bring an end to plastic pollution. We do this while ensuring that the packaging we select keeps our potatoes protected on their way home to you!