AgriLife Extension touts food education at State Fair of Texas

Writer: Gabe Saldana, 956-408-5040, [email protected]
Contact: Larry Pierce, 903-834-6191, [email protected]

DALLAS — The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has set up shop at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas to educate thousands of visitors on the agricultural origins of food.

This year’s booth display, through Oct. 22, touts the messaging of AgriLife Extension’s Path to the Plate program. The statewide effort helps consumers understand how food choices impact well-being by connecting agriculture to health, said Larry Pierce, AgriLife Extension regional program leader in Dallas.

“This is a public education program on agricultural literacy for adults and children,” he said. “Path to the Plate teaches Texans about production practices and associated hot topics like GMOs, pesticides, growth hormones and anything else people need and want to know about where their food comes from.”

This year’s display represents AgriLife Extension’s second consecutive appearance at the largest state fair in the country, which welcomed about 2.4 million patrons in 2016, according to the fair’s official website. In addition to agricultural production information, the AgriLife Extension booth offers free educational material on gardening, nutrition, cooking and youth programming.

“By understanding more about the path their food takes to their plate – how it’s grown and produced – consumers can make better food choices for themselves and their families,” Pierce said. “We’re always updating our curriculum with the best information for the public good; that’s our mission.”

Go to http://pathtotheplate.tamu.edu for comprehensive information on Path to the Plate’s growing curriculum and visit the AgriLife Extension display in the Go Texan Pavilion at the State Fair of Texas.