When did outdoor grilling begin?

To be technical, grilling goes back approximately 500,000 years ago when the development of controlled fire began. But modern grilling really took off after the World War II when new housing communities developed in suburban neighborhoods.

George Stephen, a steelworker, dabbled with some metal parts, added a wire grate and assembled the first grill. It became popular in the late 1940s and took off from there in the 1950s. Today, a grill is in nearly every backyard.

Here are 10 popular vegetables to promote for grilling:

In January, longtime veterans of the California grapes industry — Jared Lane and Robert Cadena — joined forces to create Grapeco Farms LLC, a new company with the goal to provide a year-round supply of high-flavor tri-color varieties to retailers.

GLC Cerritos LLC, Jalisco’s leading avocado grower-shipper, has named Giovanni Cavaletto as president of its U.S. division.  Establishing the U.S. division and hiring Cavaletto is part of a strategic initiative to enhance service, communication and alignment with its U.S. customer base.

Village Farms has been farming in the Chihuahuan Desert, also known as the “Big Bend Region,” just north of the U.S. and Mexico border, for almost three decades. Here the company is rolling out a whopping 112 million pounds of fresh produce a year, all from their greenhouses located just outside the towns of Marfa and Fort Davis.

The organic produce category is alive, well and still growing, according to both the nation’s largest retailer and one of the East Coast’s larger service wholesale distributors.

Allan O'Donoghue, a longtime retail produce expert, has joined RJO Produce as its first-ever retail-grower strategist. The addition of O’Donoghue strengthens RJO’s retail engagement and gives the firm’s grower customers additional insight into the retail sector.

In this new role, O’Donoghue will be a liaison between retailers and growers-shippers, helping retailers make better buying decisions that recognize market realities, while boosting their bottom lines.