Fair visitors look at a giant pumpkin at the N.C. State Fair. Notable exhibits this year included a 1,400 lb. pumpkin from West Virginia and a 306 lb. watermelon from Liberty.
N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and guests with the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services took students behind-the-scenes of the 2022 N.C. State Fair in Raleigh this month in the second installment of this fall’s CAES Student Professional Development Series.
“One highlight this year was the A&T drumline’s participation in the Military Day Parade,” said Troxler, praising the university’s Cold Steel Drumline. “They really brightened the place up, and we thank A&T for their presence at the State Fair.”
According to the commissioner, 960,172 people visited the fair during its 11-day run, an increase from last year’s 824,328 attendance following 2020’s cancellation due to COVID. Troxler called the attendance “very successful,” but stressed that navigating the large turnout meant putting emphasis on safety.
“In the beginning when taking this position, I can tell you that the state fair was probably the most intimidating part of the job,” said Troxler. “When you think about it, you’ve got all these people coming to visit you in a short period of time. We’d become a city, and all the problems that a city would have, and it all starts with safety. While importance is important to the fair, that’s just one of the boxes that we check.”
Troxler gives the first student forum of the semester in Webb Hall this year.
The N.C. State Fair, the 154th held this year, started in 1853 as an event for local farmers to share or learn the latest production techniques and new crops to plant.
“It was like a field event for farmers,” said Troxler. “Today, we’ve got farmers that are producing enough food to feed 175 people per farmer, and we’ve only got two percent of the population farming and the other 98 percent, in most cases, don’t have a clue where the food supply comes from. We’ve gone from educating farmers to educating the general public about agriculture and that food supply.”
David Smith, Administration Chief Deputy Commissioner, discussed marketing strategies to reach audiences digitally and in-person, high food donations as a result of Smithfield Foods Hunger Relief Day (214,000 lbs. of food were donated by patrons plus an additional 500,000 servings of protein by Smithfield, according to Smith), as well as sight-seeing opportunities for guests.
“We had 22,061 entries in our exhibits,” said Smith. “Exhibits covered 13 departments, 341 divisions and 5,596 classes. Things from handicrafts, culinary, clothing, art and photography, 4-H vegetables, fruits and nuts, you name it.”
Notable exhibits, according to Troxler, included a 1,400 lb. pumpkin from West Virginia; a 306 lb. watermelon from Liberty, reported by its grower to be the third largest in the world this year; and a “moonshine still” from a licensed liquor distiller.
“We also have just about every kind of food you’d want to buy at the fairgrounds,” said Smith. “It’s kind of amazing the diversity of food we have there. We don’t need another hotdog stand, let’s put it that way.”
In an open discussion, student Tykei Lee asked if there were opportunities for students to shadow veterinarians at the fair who oversee the health of animals featured in exhibits.
“I think it could be arranged, what you’re wanting to do,” said Smith. “We’re bringing in animals from all over the state and we don’t want to bring in some particular disease that would impact other animals and spread out-of-state.”
Another student, Sierra Franco, asked if there were efforts to reduce the amount of trash at the fair, citing previous comments by Smith that the trash contract was the single largest at the event. Beth Farrell, Agricultural Programs Specialist, said the fair switched from reusable plastic cups to paper cups.
“We found out that they weren’t using the stadium cups and were throwing them in the trashcan,” said Farrell. “So, we switched to paper cups across the grounds, by and large, so that reduced a lot of waste.”
Smith also added that he’d like to see food vendors recycle cardboard more frequently as opposed to disposing in the nearest trashcan on busy event days.
“We’ve got to do better as it comes to recycling,” said Smith.
