I spent a week in Rome at the end of August and loved every minute of it. But not for the reasons you might think.

I spent more than 35 hours that week in a conference room at the United Nation’s headquarters working with 12 other risk communication and food safety professionals from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. We were recruited by the Food & Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to draft a handbook on risk communication in food safety.

NEW ORLEANS — Railex, which operates weekly unit trains that offer express five-day coast-to-coast service, recently shipped its 1,000th eastbound train and is celebrating its seventh year in business, according to Paul Esposito, executive vice president of network planning and government relations.

Esposito said that 1,000 trains is the equivalent of 142,000 truckloads, and the use of Railex's service helped save over 63 million gallons of diesel fuel and prevented more than 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere.

NEW ORLEANS — Most everyone is familiar with the term networking -- the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups or institutions (as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary). However, there's a new term gaining momentum in the business world, rivaling the age-old concept of networking and bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "pay it forward." Introducing... "NetWeaving."

A new logo, revamped website, infrastructure and a busy citrus season that is ramping up as PMA Fresh Summit in New Orleans Oct. 18-21 gets underway have things hopping at Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX. The company will be exhibiting at Booth No. 5238.

Organics Unlimited, retailers and consumers celebrated GROW Month in September. The acronym stands for Giving Resources and Opportunities to Workers, and President Mayra Velazquez de Leon said she is immensely proud of the impact the program has had in the lives of workers, families and communities.

“There’s no way you can hide the excitement about what they’re doing down there,” she said of the programs in Ecuador and Mexico.

Grant Stanton Produce Co. Inc., located at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, MA, continues to provide its customers with specialty, conventional and greenhouse-grown product, giving it a special niche in the industry.

“We handle greenhouse-grown English cucumbers and peppers,” said Shawn Grant, who owns and operates the company, which was started in 1996. “The majority of our greenhouse produce is from Ontario and Mexico, depending on the season.”

Grant Stanton Produce also handles a full line of mushrooms, all of which are sourced from Pennsylvania producers.