SAN ANTONIO, TX — A high ratio of produce buyers among a total attendance exceeding 1,550 made the second annual Viva Fresh Expo, held here March 31-April 2, a tremendous success.

There were more than 235 produce buyers registered for the show, Tommy Wilkins of Grow Fresh Texas, a board member of the show, announced April 1 at the opening session of the event, which started with a March 31 charity golf tournament that raised $15,000 and concluded with an exposition on April 2.Viva Fresh Expo’s keynote speaker Dr. Drew Ramsey, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, with Jimmy Bassetti of J&D Produce, chairman of the expo committee. View more photos from Viva Fresh here. 

The meeting this year was held at the luxurious JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. Viva Fresh will reconvene in Austin in 2017, where the inaugural event was held in 2015.

The 2016 show moved up from 140 to 178 booths and was sold out again. Viva Fresh is presented the Texas International Produce Association.

Beyond promoting produce trade from Texas or arriving into Texas from Mexico, Viva Fresh also emphasized “an educational platform on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables.”

The keynote speaker, Dr. Drew Ramsey, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York and co-founder of National Kale Day, believes that improving Americans’ diet is critical to boosting our mental and physical health.

“Food can be our most important public health intervention,” he said, noting that farm-fresh foods — vegetables in particular — are just as powerful as pharmaceuticals in boosting psychiatric health.

Human brain health is heavily dependent on consuming the right foods. When planning our diets, Ramsey suggests that “our brains should be at the center of the plate. Your brain is your most important asset.”

Our two-pound brains consume 420 calories a day, which is about 20 percent of our daily intake. The brain has high concentrations of Omega-3, which is why fresh seafood is so important to our diet. Fresh vegetable consumption is extremely important to our mental health, said the author of Fifty Shades of Kale and other books that detail the importance of vegetables.

Additionally, Ramsey said a four-year study of 10,000 college students showed that a diet high in vegetable consumption decreased the risk of depression by 42 percent.  

Luncheon speaker Tom Stenzel was introduced under the playful guise of unraveling the national presidential race, but the Washington, DC-based president and chief executive officer of the United Fresh Produce Association dodged that mire to discuss the national produce industry.

“There has never been a better time to be fresh,” he said.

Despite many positive factors for the produce industry, Stenzel said there are warning signs for more challenges ahead with labor and water shortages and increased scrutiny on food-safety matters.