Raise your hand if you attend the State Fair of Texas mostly for the corny dogs. Ah, you see? You aren’t alone! It’s the Texas way to wander through a maze of attractions while enjoying the mustard and ketchup medley and newly cool weather. It takes two or three visits to cover the whole park, so just in case you stopped short of the Go Texan building this year, here’s what you missed.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension booth was just inside the Wine Garden entrance and staffed with smiling volunteers like Janet, a Master Gardener, and Barbara, a Master Naturalist. This year’s theme for the booth was “Path to the Plate.” On display were infographics to help visitors make fact-based connections between agriculture and health. For example, a breakdown of beef marketing and labeling compared “Grass-fed Beef” to “Grain-fed Beef” and discussed why the two may have different flavor profiles. Another poster shed light on terms used in egg and chicken packaging, like “Vitamin enhanced” and “No antibiotics.” There were even some take-home goodies like postcards with growing instructions for radishes and sugar snap peas and soil sample collection bags and forms to send to the lab for soil testing.

After making their way around the self-serve information wall, curious visitors found themselves in easy conversation with the likes of Janet and Barbara who offered their expertise on topics ranging from integrated pest management and species protection efforts to volunteering and employment opportunities with the AgriLife Extension Service. They shared stories about becoming Master volunteers and offered insight from their own garden practices and passion projects. Visitors would get helpful tips and learn about resources like the Master Gardener Help Desk by posing their questions.

Visiting the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension booth was an hour spent being inspired. With growing instructions and soil sample kit in tow, visitors left with confidence that they could grow their own healthy food, and the knowledge to truly understand food labels on their next grocery trip. QR codes around the booth made it easy to learn more about the path food takes to our plates and to check out resources like dinnertonight.tamu.edu for healthy and delicious recipes. It was refreshing, relieving even, to learn about all of the resources the extension service offers to help Texans live better, healthier lives. Add this stop to your must-see list for next fair season, and gain a bit of insight about the agriculture involved in the makings of your corny dog.