The Center for Produce Safety
The Center for Produce Safety is a public charity based in Woodland, California. It funds research and supports guidance, public education, and outreach on produce food safety, with an emphasis on turning research findings into practical solutions for the produce supply chain.
Key facts about The Center for Produce Safety
In short: The Center for Produce Safety gave $2.8M across 14 grants in 2025 (avg $198K), top state New York. 14% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- EIN
- 35-2489134
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025
- Annual giving (2025)
- $2,771,441
- Grants made (2025)
- 14
- Average grant
- $197,960
- Median grant
- $100,930
- New grantees (estimate)
- 14% first-time grantees (2 of 14, 2025; small sample)
- Total assets
- $11,820,142
- Primary geography
- New York (25% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
Financial Overview
From 2025 IRS Form 990 · View filing
Total Assets
$11.8M
-6.6% YoY
Annual Giving
$2.8M
-3.9% YoY
Grant Count
14
-12.5% YoY
Avg Grant Size
$198K
+9.8% YoY
Is The Center for Produce Safety open to new grantees?
14%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 2 of 14 grantees (14%) were first-time recipients. With only 14 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 7 points. First grants averaged $48K; repeat grants $223K. How we count
Medians: $48K first-time, $114K repeat.
- 79% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (−10%). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Mission & Focus Areas
The organization states its mission is to support research, provide guidance, and engage in public education and outreach regarding produce food safety issues. Its website summarizes its approach as “Fund science, find solutions, fuel change.”
CPS’s 2027 research priorities encourage hypothesis-driven proposals with clear, actionable benefits for produce safety and practical relevance to the produce sector. The guidance says proposals outside the stated priorities may also be considered if they offer credible, game-changing approaches. CPS describes the annual research call as collaborative and says funded projects receive oversight from an Industry Advisory Council.
The 2025 grants listed in the filing went to universities and a federal agricultural research center for food safety research. Among the grantees, the University of Tennessee describes its mission as promoting scientific, social, and educational research, while Virginia Tech Foundation says it manages Virginia Tech’s endowment to advance the university’s mission and strategic priorities.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, CPS reported 14 grants totaling $2,771,441. Grants ranged from $13,017 to $695,166, with a median of $100,930.
The largest reported grants included Cornell University ($695,166), University of California, Davis ($665,536), University of Arizona ($374,499), USDA ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center ($208,082), and University of Arkansas ($167,035). Each was listed for food safety research.
CPS’s annual call for research proposals includes preliminary proposals and, for proposals proceeding to the full-proposal stage, office-hour consultations. Its 2027 guidance calls for a clear hypothesis statement and sections covering rationale, objectives, design, methods and materials, analysis, and anticipated actionable outcomes. The guidance says proposals exceeding the three-page limit or submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed. Researchers are encouraged to discuss proposed work with CPS in advance. CPS also offers industry facility visits; researchers cover their own travel costs.
The 2026 request for proposals is closed. Its preliminary proposal deadline was November 5, 2025, a past deadline. The website lists the 2027 research priorities, but the materials provided here do not state a 2027 application deadline.
Ready to take the next step with The Center for Produce Safety?
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2025 grants were distributed among recipients in multiple states. The largest shares of grant dollars went to New York (25%), California (24%), Arizona (14%), Maryland (8%), and Arkansas (6%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 14 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $2.0M (2020) to $3.8M (2023). In 2025 it made 14 grants totaling $2.8M.
Grant Insights
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Cornell University ($695K). Together the top 10 received $2.6M.
Grant Size Distribution
80 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $100–250K range: 33 grants of 80 (41%).
Giving History
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cornell University Ithaca, NY | Food Safety Research | $695,166 |
| University of CA Davis Davis, CA | Food Safety Research | $665,536 |
| University of Arizona Tucson, AZ | Food Safety Research | $374,499 |
| Usda ARS Beltsville Agriculture Research Center Beltsville, MD | Food Safety Research | $208,082 |
| University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR | Food Safety Research | $167,035 |
| Washington State University Pullman, WA | Food Safety Research | $126,063 |
| University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN | Food Safety Research | $102,142 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL | Food Safety Research | $99,718 |
| Virginia Tech Foundation Blacksburg, VA | Food Safety Research | $93,788 |
| Michigan State University East Lansing, MI | Food Safety Research | $87,147 |
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $11,820,142 | $4,090,430 | $4,556,655 | $2,771,441 (14 grants) |
| 2024 | $12,651,286 | $3,764,114 | $4,476,060 | $2,885,271 (16 grants) |
| 2023 | $13,539,110 | $4,316,781 | $5,124,687 | $3,750,028 (16 grants) |
The organization states in its 2025 filing that it conducts annual site visits, requires at least quarterly financial updates, and requires twice-yearly progress reporting for its projects.
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $11,820,142 | $12,651,286 | $13,539,110 |
| Revenue | $4,090,430 | $3,764,114 | $4,316,781 |
| Expenses | $4,556,655 | $4,476,060 | $5,124,687 |
| Net Investment Income | $324,428 | $359,195 | $196,055 |
Data update history
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS November 15, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS May 10, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 10, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS August 12, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS June 26, 2025)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS July 20, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
Officers and directors listed on the 2025 filing are Carter McEntire, chair; Charles Leftwich, vice-chair; Bret Erickson, secretary; Mark Powers, treasurer; Joe Pezzini, past chair through July 2025; Dave Puglia, member at large; and directors Scott Angle, Samir Assar, Jim Brennan, and Suresh DeCosta.
The Center for Produce Safety is led by Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, Executive Director on every filing since 2020; 1 of 26 officers listed in 2025 is compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli
Executive Director
On filings since 2020
40 hrs/week
$225K (2020) → $273K (2025)
Carter McEntire
Chair
Director → Vice Chair, 2024
Vice Chair → Chair, 2025
On filings since 2023
30 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Dave Murray
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jim Brennan
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jim Lugg
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Michael Joyner
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Michael Spinazzola
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Natalie Dyenson
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Samir Assar
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Stephen Patricio
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Timothy York
Director
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Craig Hedberg
Director
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Scott Angle
Director
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Timothy Riley
Director
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Larry Kohl
Director
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Michael Taylor
Director
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Thomas Green
Director
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jorge Hernandez
Director
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Matthew Wise
Director
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Suresh Decosta
Director
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Martin Duplessis
Director
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Dave Puglia
Member at Large
Director → Member at Large, 2025
On filings since 2020
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Joe Pezzini
Past Chair
Director → Chair, 2022
Chair → Past Chair, 2025
On filings since 2020
30 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Mark Powers
Treasurer
On filings since 2020
20 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Bret Erickson
Secretary
Director → Secretary, 2022
On filings since 2021
30 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Charles Leftwich
Vice Chair
Director → Vice Chair, 2025
On filings since 2023
30 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (21)
- Former: Craig Wilson (2020–2024) — Director
- Former: Amy Gates (2022–2024) — Director
- Former: Isabelle Laberge (2022–2024) — Director
- Former: Drew McDonald (2020–2023) — Director
- Former: Tony Dimare (2020–2023) — Director
- Former: Art Liang (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Mark Mignogna (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Martha Roberts (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Max Teplitski (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Steve Kenfield (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Steve Martori III (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Victor Smith (2020–2022) — Past Chair
- Former: Criag Hedberg (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Dave Corsi (2020–2021) — Past Chair
- Former: Doug Grant (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Tammy Switucha (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Thomas Stenzel (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Tim Riley (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Toby Purse (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Jimmy Bassetti (2020) — Director
- Former: Paul Fleming (2020) — Director
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $273K, to Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli (Executive Director).
Contact
Mailing address: 1100 Main Street Suite 210, Woodland, CA 95695
Phone: (530) 554-9706
Website: https://centerforproducesafety.org
Frequently asked questions about The Center for Produce Safety
How much does The Center for Produce Safety give each year?
The Center for Produce Safety gave $2.8M across 14 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $2.9M across 16 grants.
What is The Center for Produce Safety's typical grant size?
The Center for Produce Safety's median grant in 2025 was $100,930, and its average grant was $197,960, across 14 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Center for Produce Safety that year got $48K on average.
Where does The Center for Produce Safety give grants?
The Center for Produce Safety's top state is New York, with 25% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990. The next largest states were California (24%) and Arizona (14%).
Does The Center for Produce Safety give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 14 grants with a stated purpose on The Center for Produce Safety's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Food Safety Research" (14 grants).
Who are The Center for Produce Safety's largest grantees?
The Center for Produce Safety's largest 2025 grantees include Cornell University ($695,166), University of CA Davis ($665,536) and University of Arizona ($374,499), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 63% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The Center for Produce Safety?
The Center for Produce Safety reported $11.8M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $4.1M.
What does The Center for Produce Safety fund?
The organization states its mission is to support research, provide guidance, and engage in public education and outreach regarding produce food safety issues. Its website summarizes its approach as “Fund science, find solutions, fuel change.” See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from The Center for Produce Safety?
The Center for Produce Safety has no public application process in the sources Grantable reviewed. Check centerforproducesafety.org for current guidelines, or contact the foundation directly before submitting a request.
What is The Center for Produce Safety's EIN?
The Center for Produce Safety's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 35-2489134. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
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