Over 200 people attended the Eastern Produce Council's May 13 meeting, which took place at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market. This was only the second time that the council has held a meeting outside its traditional metropolitan New York and New Jersey zone. The council met in Philadelphia in 2012.

One of the Philadelphia Mummers parade bands was on hand to open the meeting. The Mummers are a beloved Philadelphia institution that traces back to mid-17th-century roots, Al Murray, New Jersey's assistant secretary of agriculture; John McAleavey, executive director of the Eastern Produce Council; keynote speaker Ron Jaworski; Douglas H. Fisher, New Jersey's secretary of agriculture; and Paul Kneeland, president of the council.blending elements from Swedish, Finnish, Irish, English, German and other European heritages, as well as African heritage. The Mummers Parade, held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia, is believed to be the oldest folk festival in the United States.

Ron Jaworski, a former National Football League quarterback and currently an NFL analyst on the ESPN network, delivered the keynote address at the meeting. Jaworski, nicknamed Jaws, played the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, taking them to the Super Bowl in 1981.

The five sponsors of the May 14 meeting — Avocados from Mexico, Dole, USA Pears, United Savings Bank and Vision Import Group — all had tabletop displays at the meeting, according to EPC Executive Director John McAleavey.

The council presented a check for $2,500 to Philabundance at the meeting. Lisa Hodaei, the organization's deputy director of food acquisition, and Marlo L. Delsordo, the organization's director of marketing and communication, accepted the donation. Philadbundance, created in 1984, "is the region's largest hunger relief organization, providing emergency food and access to services to approximately 900,000 people at risk of hunger and food insecurity in the Delaware Valley and beyond," according to the organization's website.

The council also made a donation to Jaworski's charitable foundation, known as Jaws Youth Playbook, whose mission is to improve the overall health and wellness of at-risk youth, primarily in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Alluding to the Philadelphia venue, EPC President Paul Kneeland, vice president of produce, floral, seafood and meat at Kings Food Markets and Balducci's Food Lovers Markets, spoke about how the council wants to become more of a regional organization in the years ahead.

"A natural extension would be Philadelphia," McAleavey told The Produce News one day after the meeting. Eventually the council could expand into western Pennsylvania as well as into upstate New York, including the Albany area, he added.