The State Fair of Texas' Year-Round Urban Farm Feeds Millions in South Dallas
October 04, 2024
A fairgoer explores the Big Tex Urban Farm greenhouse in front of a bed of microgreens on Oct. 1, 2024, at the State Fair of Texas.Ileana Garnand | Lone Star Live
In the shadow of a Ferris wheel, the State Fair of Texas’ urban farm has grown almost 150,000 pounds of produce to feed the residents of South Dallas.
On Oct. 1, 2024, fat tomatoes dangle near the concrete floor, while vibrant heads of lettuce bask on top of a pond tank. Workers shave pieces off of a giant block of mushrooms to weigh them. Children marvel at beds of microgreens.
It’s a typical day at Big Tex Urban Farms, at least during State Fair season.
While the fair runs for a month, Big Tex Urban Farms operates the entire year. It grows about 15 different plants, although some have multiple varieties.
All of the produce goes to community organizations and initiatives supporting South Dallas, which is a food desert with limited access to grocery stores. As of June 2024, the farm has donated more than 1.5 million servings.
Urban farmer Elijah Moore prepares to harvest a bed of lettuce on Oct. 1, 2024, at Big Tex Urban Farms inside Fair Park in Dallas, Texas.Ileana Garnand | Lone Star Live
“Last year was a record year, and we’re knocking at the door already, so we think we’re gonna beat that this year,” said Drew Demler, director of horticulture for the State Fair of Texas.
Demler started working at the fair as the greenhouse manager in 2011, where he focused on ornamental plants. In 2016, senior fair staff pitched the idea to start a community garden and donate the produce.
“I was like, ‘Heck yeah, man, that sounds like a great idea,’” Demler said.
Big Tex Urban Farms started as a set of planter beds, outside on a cement parking lot. The farm is fully funded by the State Fair of Texas, so a percentage of every Midway ride and corn dog purchase supports the program.
“We learned a bunch of things that first year,” Demler said. “Number one, growing produce on a concrete parking lot in the summer in Texas? Really hard.”
But the project formed “really good partnerships” in 2016, Demler said. One was with the Juanita Craft Recreation Center, which launched a community farmers market that year. Every Friday, Big Tex Urban Farms’ yield went to the rec center, available free of charge to local residents.
“It’s still that way,” Demler said. “Now we’re up to two days a week (at the farmers market) and the diversity (of food) that we’re able to give now is a lot better.”
In 2017, the State Fair expanded the farm’s budget. It began experimenting with hydroponics, a method of growing plants using water-based nutrient solutions instead of soil.
Hydroponics revolutionized everything for Big Tex Urban Farms.
Big Tex Urban Farms director of horticulture Drew Demler (left) harvests lettuce with a team member, while another coworker carries a mushroom in the background, on Oct. 1, 2024.Ileana Garnand | Lone Star Live
“Once you dial these systems in and learn how to grow in them, they’re incredibly productive,” Demler said. “We wiped the floor in a couple of months with what we were able to do all year long outdoors.”
The increase in produce made the donation program more consistent, with larger deliveries to multiple community partners.
Fairgoers also loved to visit the farm’s corner of the Errol McKoy Greenhouse — located right by the iconic Texas Star Ferris Wheel — which it shared with a model railroad garden and pumpkin carver.
Because of the newfound popularity, Big Tex Urban Farms completely took over the greenhouse in 2018. Soon after, Demler got a tattoo of the project’s logo on his arm.
Drew Demler, director of horticulture for the State Fair of Texas, shows off his Big Tex Urban Farms tattoo on Oct. 1, 2024.Ileana Garnand | Lone Star Live
The farmers haven’t stopped growing — or experimenting. Demler’s latest project is culinary mushrooms. He and his team of five produce 50 to 60 pounds of mushrooms a week.
“We had no clue where this was going to go,” Demler said. “We had no idea what was going to come, and I like to think that hopefully, we still don’t know what’s to come yet.”
The program recently launched a shipping container farm, added edible landscaping to its fair displays and partnered with a Texas A&M AgriLife facility for outdoor growing.
On top of feeding the community, Big Tex Urban Farms is also an educational hub. It just finished its second year with a cohort of local high schoolers. The class spends six months training in urban farming and hydroponics.
“Even with the food that we donate and everything else, the educational aspect is maybe the most important, just trying to get people to understand what agriculture looks like now,” Demler said. “We hope that we inspire a few young people along the way who want to pursue this further and maybe want to do this for a living.”
A culinary mushroom block grown at Big Tex Urban Farms inside Fair Park, in Dallas, Texas.Ileana Garnand | Lone Star Live
Big Tex Urban Farms is open to fairgoers in the Errol McKoy Greenhouse from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily during the State Fair of Texas’ 24-day run.
“We know it’s going to be a lot more slow and steady than what we’re used to during the off-season when we’re in here by ourselves, because people get real interested,” Demler said. “It’s great. We want people to come in and see this. A lot of times, people are seeing horticulture or agriculture of any type for the very first time, let alone something that’s kind of 2.0 agriculture.”