If you spend any time in the produce industry, you know that conference season can feel a little like living out of a carry-on. Flights before sunrise. Long days of meetings. Networking receptions that stretch late into the evening. Then you wake up the next morning and do it all again.

Travel for work is exciting and energizing, but it can also quietly chip away at your wellness if you’re not intentional about how you manage it. Anyone who travels frequently knows the common advice: maintain a routine when you can, try to fit in a walk or workout, and pack light so transitions between airports, hotels and meetings are easier.

But there’s another tool for staying energized on the road that our industry understands better than most.

Produce.

When conference schedules get packed and food choices are often limited to what’s quick and convenient, fruits and vegetables can play an outsized role in helping you maintain energy, hydration and have even better conversations while you’re traveling.

Here are three simple ways produce can support your wellness when you’re on the road:

1. Keep Produce on the Menu

When you’re traveling for work, meals often happen in restaurants, hotel lounges or conference centers. It’s easy to default to whatever is fastest or most convenient between sessions.

Adding fruits and vegetables into those meals can make a significant difference in how you feel throughout the day.

Nutrition experts consistently recommend prioritizing produce while traveling because fruits and vegetables provide fiber and nutrients that help sustain energy and promote fullness without the heavy feeling or energy crash that often comes from the fast grab alternatives. According to guidance from nutrition professionals we work with regularly at The Foundation for Fresh Produce, making fruits and vegetables a regular part of travel meals can help maintain steady energy levels and prevent the mid-afternoon slump that many travelers experience.

In practice, it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Add fruit to breakfast instead of skipping it altogether. Choose a salad or vegetable-forward entrée at lunch. Grab a piece of fruit between sessions rather than living entirely on coffee.

Small choices add up over the course of a long travel day.

Pro-tip: If you’re at a produce show, take advantage of those giveaways — grab the apple, the mandarins, the pistachios. I sometimes also will bring fruits or veggies in a baggy from home on travel days.

2. Think of Fruit as Hydration

Air travel is notoriously dehydrating. Cabin air has extremely low humidity, and long days of travel can leave you feeling tired before your meetings even begin.

Dehydration is one of the most common contributors to fatigue during travel and it’s easy to make it worse without realizing it. Coffee from the hotel lobby, cocktails at evening receptions and even some soft drinks act as diuretics that can further reduce hydration levels.

Drinking water is essential, of course, but fruits can help as well.

Many fruits contain high amounts of water, which can support hydration during busy travel days. Nutrition guidance highlights water-rich fruits such as watermelon, oranges, strawberries and peaches as foods that contribute to hydration while also providing nutrition and energy.

That makes them particularly helpful during conference season, when you may be presenting, networking and engaging with colleagues all day.

Staying hydrated isn’t just about feeling good, it helps you stay sharp, focused and ready to show up at your best.

Pro-tip: pack the reusable water bottle — most airports and now even some hotels have stations to refill, and of course, consider bringing anything you have from home in terms of fruit along for the ride.

3. Let Produce Be Part of the Conversation

One of the best parts of conference travel is the chance to connect with colleagues, partners and new contacts across the industry. Anyone in produce knows food is often at the center of those interactions.

Business meals and networking receptions are opportunities not just to talk about the industry, but to experience it together. Next time you’re sitting down with partners or meeting someone new, consider scanning the appetizers or side dishes for produce-forward options and order straight down the menu to share with your party.

It’s a small choice, but it reflects something meaningful about our industry.

When we choose fruits and vegetables at the table, we’re supporting the products we champion every day and often discovering new flavors or preparations along the way. More importantly, good food tends to spark good conversation, and good conversation is where the best industry connections begin. Walk the walk, if you’re gonna talk the talk. 

Conference season can be demanding, but it’s also one of the most energizing times in our industry. It’s when ideas are shared, partnerships are built, and the future of produce takes shape.

Taking care of your own wellness while you travel helps ensure you can show up fully for those moments. Fortunately, the solution is often right in front of us.

Whether it’s adding fruit to your breakfast, choosing vegetables at lunch or sharing a produce-forward dish with colleagues over dinner, fruits and vegetables offer a simple way to stay nourished, hydrated, and energized while you’re on the road.

For those of us who work in produce, that might be the most natural travel strategy of all.