Thanks to Kitchen-PLAY and PMA for including me in this year’s #TeamFreshSummit. As part of Team Fresh Summit, I have received compensation from Sun-Maid, Valley Fig, Outrageously Fresh Produce, and Hurst’s Berry Farm. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I just returned from Atlanta where I spent the weekend at the Fresh Summit, the annual trade show for the produce industry put on by the Produce Marketers Association (PMA). The Georgia World Convention Center floor was filled with fifty aisles and over 1000 exhibitors from every aspect of the produce and floral industry.

During a whirlwind two days I discovered amazing new products, learned about the latest industry trends, realized how produce marketing connects to healthier eating habits, and met many generous, knowledgeable and enthusiastic people. I walked away feeling like an industry insider. So when I spied two men wearing produce-industry, corporate-logo button-downs in the airport on Sunday night, I asked them casually: “Did you have a good show?” “Yes,” they replied. “How about you?” “Oh, definitely,” I said.

It is hard to recap in any succinct way an event of this scope. So, I am relying on the tried and true Top Ten List. Here, in no particular order, are the Top Ten Things I saw at PMA Fresh Summit.

1. Exotic Fruits and Vegetables. There are so many fruits and vegetables from other parts of the world — from rambutan and dragon fruit to bitter melon and Chinese long beans — that we don’t often see in our grocery stores. Fortunately, I believe that is beginning to change. At Fresh Summit, I was entranced by the unusual and exotic fruits and vegetables that I saw from all over the world. One of the coolest companies I met at PMA,  Frieda’s Produce, brings these unfamiliar products to stores and teaches us how to eat and cook with them.

2. Creative packaging. Marketing produce is not only about the product. Sometimes it is about the packaging. Packaging fruits and vegetables in new and more convenient ways can help increase our consumption of fruits and vegetables — a challenge that Outrageously Fresh Produce is embracing with its new Jar Bags. Shaped to look like a swing-top glass jars, these new bags make it easy to buy and eat vegetables like peppers and tomatoes while on the go. Plus, they’re adorable! Be sure to look for the Outrageously Fresh Produce Jar Bags in stores in 2016.

3. Hugh Acheson. Yes, the Top Chef judge, cookbook author and restaurateur was at the show with California Avocados demo-ing delicious avocado recipes. I spoke to him on the first morning and he graciously took a picture with me. Then, on the second day, I caught him as he was packing up to leave and I shamelessly gave him my card and told him about my upcoming book. Again, he was really friendly and wished me luck.  His new book The Broad Fork is on my wish list.

4. Color! It’s a cliché that we eat with our eyes first. But like many clichés, it is true. Fruits and vegetables come in a riot of different colors. Even old favorites like cauliflower and tomatoes are now arriving in stores in new and bold colors. Try orange or purple cauliflower, white eggplant, yellow tomatoes, and pale green romanesco broccoli. You never know, you might even tempt a picky eater. Melissa’s Produce had an amazing array of colorful vegetables at its booth.

5. California Fig Spreads from Valley Fig Growers. I absolutely adore figs because I think they are so versatile, pairing exceptionally well with both sweet and savory preparations. These new California Fig Spreads are a shining example of that. Try the California Orange on toast or in yogurt while the Balsamic Pepper would be amazing on roast pork or duck. Any of the varieties is a wonderful addition to a cheese plate. I make my own fig jam every fall with fresh figs, but after trying these spreads, I may just give up!

6. Giving back. The floor of the PMA Fresh Summit is filled with more fruit, vegetables, and flowers  than you can imagine. By Sunday evening, though, all this beautiful produce has served its purpose. What happens to it then? Well, Fresh Summit attendees get to take home as much as they can carry, but that still leaves a lot of food. You will be very happy to hear that volunteers work through the night after the show closes to harvest the food for local food banks.  Over the past decade, PMA exhibitors have donated more than 2.9 million pounds of fresh produce to communities in need in the U.S. Last year’s donation consisted of more than 217,000 pounds of produce.

7. Fruit art. I am obsessed with these fruit and vegetable carvings. Can you believe that the parrot was carved from a daikon radish? But the watermelon is obviously the preferred canvas for these artists.

 8. Broccoleaf. Yes, these are the leaves of the broccoli plant, picked when they are young and tender. They are a nutritional powerhouse with calcium, vitamin C and antioxidants like vitamins A and K. Broccoleaf is the latest superfood to hit shelves and it has many advantages over other dark leafy greens because it is sweet and tender. It’s proved to be excellent for juicing, and won’t gunk up your high-speed blender, but you can also eat it in a salad or sauté with some aromatics. I am fired up to add broccoleaf to my winter soups.

9. Candied cranberries.  I spent a few hours at Hurst’s Berry Farm booth on Saturday learning about the gorgeous berries that HBF grows. The whole time, I was popping Lori’s candied cranberries in my mouth and exhorting passers-by to try them. They tasted like nothing so much as apple cranberry crisp without the crisp. By the way, buy your Hurst’s Berry Farm cranberries now because it has been an early harvest this year due to warm weather in the Pacific Northwest. You can freeze them if you do not need them until Thanksgiving.

10. Shrooms! I couldn’t stop photographing mushrooms for some reasons. I think it’s because they look so other-worldly. No wonder shrooms are the stuff of legends and fairytales. Is it weird that we eat these odd-looking fungi? Not when they taste so delicious!

11. Special Bonus: Practicing my Spanish. Fresh Summit is truly a global event and when you walk the show floor, you hear other languages, mainly Spanish, almost as much as you hear English. Countries like Chile, Peru and Mexico had enormous booths touting their agricultural products. I’ve been studying conversational Spanish in preparation for an upcoming family trip to South America, so I did not hesitate to switch to Spanish as often as possible and most people humored me. Over the two days, I talked to lovely people from all over the world, from Europe to South America and from Africa and Australia.

There you have it! My recap of PMA Fresh Summit 2015. I feel incredibly fortunate to have gone behind the scenes at an industry event such as this one. I left very impressed by the produce industry’s commitment to promoting a healthy, plant-based diet. For fun, be sure to check out the Partnership for Healthier America’s new, edgy marketing campaign for fruits and vegetables aimed at Millennials and teens, FNV. This campaign features celebrities, all of whom have donated their time and likenesses, including sports stars, singers, actors and even the latest breed of celebrity, You-Tubers and Viners. I may have to buy Zuzu one of the shirts that says “Eyebrows on Leek,” or maybe “P**ch Better Have My Money.”