When you grow your own food, there's a big benefit: knowing exactly what goes into your crop. You control the fertilizer, pesticide use, water and other variables.

However, despite every preventative measure to safeguard your garden-grown produce, there are still pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi in the soil or water that may come in contact with the edible portion of your fruits and vegetables.

While you can't escape all pathogens, you can minimize the risk associated with food-borne pathogens. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to implement good agricultural practices to improve the quality and safety of produce. Prevention is the key, as once a product is contaminated it is difficult to kill microbial pathogens on uncooked foods.

Here are some simple things you can do to keep foods grown in your backyard safe.