One of the delicious spots that fairgoers can visit is the dairy products building. Of course, that’s where visitors can find the butter sculpture, ice cream and mac and cheese. And one of the favorites is the milk bar. The teens working at this year's milk bar went behind the scenes at several farms to learn the ins and outs of agriculture.

Many people don’t get the chance to see the origin of grocery store products.

“We live in a world that's so disconnected from agriculture. Most people don't understand where their food comes from other than the grocery store. I have had the opportunity to grow up on a dairy farm, but that's not the case for 98% of the world. So, if you can help them understand just a sliver of your daily life as a farmer, they can understand where their food comes from,” said Morgan Jones, Cayuga County head dairy ambassador.

What You Need To Know

  •  Students are working at the NYS Fair's Milk Bar.

  •  Before the fair's gates opened, they toured Central NY farms.

  • One goal of the tours is to help encourage teens to pursue a career in agriculture.
  • Organizers also want young people to see first-hand where their groceries come from.

These teens are the faces fair visitors see behind the Milk Bar at the state fair this year.

“The Milk Bar is one of the busiest places in the fair. And it's always nice to help people out and pour them milk that they always come to the fair for,” said Jack White, a Milk Bar employee.

“One question that gets asked a lot, ‘is this raw milk?’ And it is, in fact, not raw milk. It's been pasteurized and homogenized. So, I can kind of explain that,” said Jones.

Before the fair gates opened, these students were able to tour several farms in Central New York.

“I didn't know that sheep made cheese or milk, so that was really fascinating for me,” said Karla Anamaria, a Milk Bar employee.

“To know where your food comes from, when you get it at the grocery store, and like how the process of it being made and how it starts and where it comes from,” said White.

The fair’s Milk Bar is a partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

“When we think of agriculture careers, it's not just the actual milking the cows or growing the crops. There's this whole range of careers and that are available. A lot of them are pretty well paid,” said Daniel Welch, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension Cayuga County.