Spring has arrived and spring vegetables have been showing up in your local produce aisles and markets for a few weeks. now. But this week is the sweetest week of the spring vegetable season. That is because this is the week that the sweetest onions in the world will be first shipped for the 2025 season. Yes, it’s time for a fresh crop of Vidalia Onions.

Today we are going to celebrate Vidalia Onions and we have a very special guest joining us to tell us all about them. John Shuman and his family-owned Shuman Farms has been in the sweet onion industry for three generations. He joins us today to tell us all about Vidalia Onions and the history of Shuman Farms. And about sweet onions from other regions like Peru. And he will also tell us about how they are giving back to the communities they serve all over the country with some very impactful charity work.

On this week’s podcast, we have two very special guests who are redefining snack foods. But this is more than a story of a successful start-up and exciting new food product. This husband-and-wife team turned a deeply personal tragedy into a mission to help others eat healthier. In doing so, they created a company that is disrupting the snack food and fresh produce aisles to offer delicious products that are also good for you.

When Megan and Scott Reamer’s son, Jackson, was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, they began researching anti-inflammatory diets to help ease Jackson’s struggle with the disease. That labor of love inspired them to create a new company to offer to consumers some of the delicious snacks they created for Jackson to enjoy. Thus Jackson’s Chips was born offering sweet potato and regular potato chips cooked in a way that made them much healthier.

But Megan and Scott wanted the company to be much more than a potato chip maker. They wanted it to help keep Jackson’s legacy alive and help others facing similar diseases. Tune in to hear this heart-rending but also heart-warming story of this brave young man.

This week we welcome back to the show a very special guest. He is a longtime friend and colleague who used to work with the four of us Produce Buzzers many years ago. Since that time he has been a rising star in the produce business and has worked for some of the biggest names in the produce industry. With over 36 years’ experience in the business, he’s a true veteran of the produce world who could enlighten us on just about any item that you buy in the produce department.

But his current gig is with Ocean Mist Farms, a grower, packer, and shipper of all types of vegetables, from a wide variety of lettuces, cabbages, and brassicas to cilantro, beets, and radishes. They are a big player in all those veggies but their signature product is artichokes. They are the largest supplier of this favorite in the produce aisle. But Mark has some new products to tell us about today that you must stick around to hear about. These new offerings are exceedingly delicious and guaranteed to make your meal planning so much easier. They recreate that indulgent experience you have had with veggies in your favorite restaurant. So you won’t want to miss hearing about them.