ENSURING FRESH PRODUCE SAFETY HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST PRESSING POLICY ISSUES OF OUR TIME, DUE IN LARGE PART TO THE BURGEONING INTEREST IN LOCAL FOODS. "FIELD-TO-FORK" FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES FOR FRESH PRODUCE INCLUDING MONITORING, CONTROLLING, AND PREVENTING FOOD CONTAMINATION RISKS ARE CRITICAL FOR SAFETY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE FRESH PRODUCE SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEM MAKES IT ESSENTIAL TO INCORPORATE A RANGE OF RISK PREVENTION AND MITIGATION TOOLS INTO SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SO AS TO MAINTAIN SYSTEM SAFETY AND INTEGRITY.THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO IDENTIFY OPTIMAL RISK CONTROL STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE PRODUCE CONTAMINATION CONSEQUENCES AND COSTS, AND TO EXAMINE SUPPLY CHAIN PARTICIPANTS' RISK CONTROL BEHAVIOR RESULTING FROM AGENT-AGENT AND AGENT-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS. THIS STUDY WILL FIRST MODEL THE U.S. FRESH PRODUCE SUPPLY SYSTEM INTEGRATING PRODUCT AND INFORMATION FLOW LAYERS IN A REALISTIC MANNER. SUBSEQUENTLY, WE WILL USE NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS TOIDENTIFY STRATEGIES THAT MOST EFFICIENTLY BALANCE THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN RISK CONTROL EFFORTS AND CONTAMINATION RISKS. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL USE AGENT-BASED MODELING TO EXAMINE HOW THESE STRATEGIES AFFECT PARTICIPANTS' EMERGENT BEHAVIOR.BY COMBINING COMPUTATIONAL AND SIMULATION MODELS IN NEW WAYS WE EXPECT TO ARRIVE AT NOVEL SOLUTIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ENSURE COST-EFFICIENT RISK CONTROL OF THE U.S. PRODUCE SUPPLY CHAIN. OUR FINDINGS WILL HAVE DIRECT IMPLICATIONS FOR OPTIMAL PRODUCT TESTING AS WELL AS FOR EFFECTIVE PRODUCT TRACING AND RECALL STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE RISK UNDER CERTAIN OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS. THE FRAMEWORK AND APPROACHES CAN BE EXTENDED TO OTHER SUPPLY CHAINS TO ADDRESS FOOD SAFETY PROBLEMS ELSEWHERE.