I remember when the idea of forming the Southeast Produce Council was just that -- an idea.

I felt that there was a real need to bring together the different factions that make up the produce industry in the Southeast. Our region has long been a leader in agriculture, and we are also home to some of the more innovative and leading supermarket chains in the country.

It was a natural progression to form an association that would link us in a way that had never been realized on a regional basis in the South.

For the second straight year, Goodness Greeness, a leading Midwest distributor of organic produce based in Chicago, will sponsor Family Farmed Expo, an event that brings together regional growers, chefs and consumers with an interest in organic and artesian food, local economies, fair trade, nature, and environmental and health issues.

Family Farmed Expo will be held Friday, March 10 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, March 11 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Chicago at the historic Chicago Cultural Center on East Washington Street.

Houston-based Sysco Corp. announced that its FreshPoint produce subsidiary bought City Produce Inc., a leading independent produce distributor in Texas' Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Harlingen, foodservice markets, and Thomas Bros. Produce Inc., an independent produce distributor in Oklahoma.

Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

"Big" is a word used to describe much about the onion industry of the Snake River Valley of Idaho and the adjacent counties of eastern Oregon.

With its average 21,000 acres planted each year, the region makes up the largest storage onion-producing region in the United States and accounts for more than 24,000 carlots shipped and 25 percent of all fresh bulb onions consumed nationally in the United States each year.

Fresno, CA-based Baloian Packing Inc. has formally changed its name to Baloian Farms in an effort to more clearly communicate the organization's long-standing heritage as a premier grower, packer and shipper of fresh produce. As part of the new identity, Baloian Farms is also unveiling a new corporate logo.