Governor Hochul: "This is really a huge point of pride to me, to get to brag about this State Fair…It's about celebrating our farmers – our farmers who really have so many struggles before them…But it also gives us a chance to spotlight our great history, entertainment, and of course, the food.”
Hochul: “A quarter of our landmass is dedicated to farming, 7 million acres…it's the backbone of our state…And I'm really proud to support our farmers…I am going to sign an Executive Order in front of all of you to direct state agencies to increase the percentage of food they purchase from New York farmers. And within five years, at least 30 percent…of food purchases will be locally grown and produced. And right now, we believe that this will result in our spending on local food from $4 million to $400 million over the next five years.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul opened the 2023 Great New York State Fair, joining state and local officials for a ribbon cutting ceremony to kick off the 13-day run of the country’s oldest state fair. The Governor also cut the ribbon on Asian Village, the newest cultural Village at The Fair. Additionally, Governor Hochul signed an Executive Order at the fair directing State agencies to increase the percentage of food sourced from New York farmers and producers to 30 percent of their total purchases within five years. The Governor also signed legislation to bring together students at the New York State Fair to develop innovative agricultural technologies as well as legislation to support smaller and newer fairs across the state while promoting youth involvement in agriculture and domestic arts.
B-ROLL of the Governor’s tour of the fair is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you, Sean. You already got the job. We're good. Fixing the microphones here.
Welcome to New York State's Fair, but also one of the greatest fairs in our nation. And we are also the oldest fair in our nation. Some say that it goes back to the times of the dinosaurs. Now I'm just making an observation here, that there were dinosaurs walking the earth when we had the first Erie County Fair, but you can fact check that on the internet and see what you get.
Richard Ball, how extraordinary it is for you to be someone that the farmers can rely on, but someone that we in government can rely on to lead us on the best path to make sure that people know that this state is so incredibly diverse, that there's more to New York than the Statue of Liberty and Niagara Falls, that there are vast, vast thousands of acres of great farmland that's producing food for not just New Yorkers, but literally for the world. So thank you for being the friend of our farmers, a champion of this fair, and a great ally of mine and our administration. Let's give a round of applause to Richard Ball.
And Sean Hennessey, our new director. Sean, stand up and take a bow. I love the enthusiasm. Love the enthusiasm. That's great. And also joined by many elected officials who are so proud to represent this part of our state with this really special designation as the home of New York State's Fair.
Want to recognize, first of all, my partners in government at the legislative level. Senator Rachel May is here. Senator May. We also have Al Stirpe and Pam Hunter, our county – I'm sorry, our assemblymembers. Any other – oh, Bill Magnarelli is here. Bill Magnarelli. Let's get everybody here. Pam, Rachel. Our County Executive, Ryan McMahon is here, County Executive. Our Mayor, Ben Walsh. I'm sure we’ll be walking around with the kids again this year. We always do as part of our tradition. Our friends in labor who are here, let's give a round of applause for men and women of labor.
And also, my partners in government, a number of members of my administration have traveled here today, so it's great to see everybody. I also brought along, well – someone you’re going to be seeing a lot more of, and that is New York State's first-First Gentleman. That is my husband, Bill Hochul. Let's give him a round of applause. I also see some future farmers and 4-Hers in the crowd. Let's give them a round of applause.
We expect over one million people to visit these fairgrounds over the next 13 days. That's an extraordinary number of people. I'm going to guess that certainly goes beyond the population of Onondaga County. We're drawing people from everywhere and with good reason. This is one of my favorite places. I have been here as Lieutenant Governor, I was here as a Member of Congress and as a county representative. Every year, I find an excuse to come to the State Fair, but this is my second time coming as your Governor. And this is really a huge point of pride to me, to get to brag about this State Fair.
And everyone knows that this is a very special place. It's about celebrating our farmers – our farmers who really have so many struggles before them. We have frost in the spring and droughts and flooding, and already knowing in the spring that your crop that you worked so hard to nurture may not make it through the fall, the harvest. Finding workers – another enormous challenge, something I'm working hard on every single day. We have our Commissioner of Labor, Roberta Reardon here who's helping with that effort.
But it also gives us a chance to spotlight our great history, entertainment, and of course, the food. And we all have our favorites. And I'm sure with that 25-cent cup of milk, they know I want the chocolate milk. Don't even bother with the white milk. I always wanted the chocolate milk. I look forward to stopping there, and I always get the maple cotton candy and of course, the sausages.
But I never missed one of my county fairs as a child, the Erie County Fair. I know it's down the road a little bit, but my love of county fairs goes back to just being a child. And literally when we moved back from Washington, we had a choice of where to live after I worked there many years ago, and I wanted to be literally walking distance to our fair – so I didn't have to pay for parking number one, but my kids could go back and forth throughout the summer and enjoy the freedom and the energy and the excitement and feel part of the community.
As 4-Her, my very first public address that perhaps set me on the path to where I am today, was demonstrating how to make – we were told to make something nutritious, and I made something called the banana orange frosted. I had to make a nice poster with pictures of bananas and oranges on it. It's a smoothie. I was – before people talked about smoothies, I was there 50 years ago, 60 years ago. But it gave me the confidence to know that I could speak before a crowd as a 10-year-old. That's why I love programs like 4-H and Future Farmers and other programs that give young people the confidence to know that they can be real leaders.
So, this is where I started discovering myself. And that's why this fair is important, so young people can come here and perhaps get excited. They're going to go over to the Micron area and maybe they'll think about someday, “I want to work there. I could work making all these incredible, cool things.” They can want to study science and go into horticulture and all the different fields we have available here in New York, because this is where their minds will be sparked with imagination and excitement.
And we also want to continue making sure that we don't just talk about how great this fair is, but we keep investments. That's why last year I announced $35 million of improvements at the fair because it's an older fair, it needs our support. A brand-new pavilion this year, 2,500 square feet of show space. And for the first time ever, we're having a baby goat competition. I kid you not. Is that okay? Making major improvements at Restaurant Row. Plenty of places – brand-new wool center, horse stables, Horticulture Education Center.
And also we're honoring two big anniversaries. 50 years of hip hop, born right here in your State of New York. So proud we can keep the party going. I was at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx where it is - the claim to fame is being the birthplace of hip hop, but they're happy to share it all across the state. Also, we're going to have some great performing artists, Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick, others will come here and just entertain a lot of people who remember those early days of hip hop.
It's also the 10th anniversary of Taste New York, our official eat local, drink local program. And we're going to have the Taste New York Tasting Yard for the first time with all local snacks. But also, this is a chance to be right here in Syracuse, exploring the world. Our cultural villages, our new Asian villages joins our Latino, Pan-African, and Indian villages. The voice of the farmer program, an interactive garden tour. So this is educational. It’s all fun, but people from children all the way up to adults are also embracing and understanding other cultures and the life of a farmer and their challenges, and hopefully walking away from this experience with a new appreciation for others.
And of course, the 800-pound butter sculpture. This is epic. I love this. This year's theme is “Dairy every day is a healthy way, keeping kids on track.” It features a train with a cow conductor. Okay, we have to deal in imagination here. Kids as passengers enjoying a variety of dairy products. So I know you're wanting me to churn out some puns on this one. They want me to say, “You butter believe it,” but I won't say you butter believe it. But I am on a roll here.
And also these guys behind me – 60 breathing, lifelike dinosaurs and lots of activities for kids. So this is great. And our admission is $6. Kids under 12 and seniors get in free. That includes me. Happy to say that. But unlike other states, we don't charge for the special attractions either. We provide this with that cost of admission, and people can enjoy this without having to dig deeper into their pockets.
But I want to get back to agriculture – a quarter of our landmass is dedicated to farming, 7 million acres. As I was saying before, it's the backbone of our state – the fresh food, the ensuring our food and beverages are delivered freshly. And I'm really proud to support our farmers. And you know how we're going to do that this year? This is exciting. I am going to sign an Executive Order in front of all of you to direct state agencies to increase the percentage of food they purchase from New York farmers.
And within five years, at least 30 percent – 30 percent – of all food purchases, and we're talking about SUNY campuses and schools and all of our agencies, we're talking about everything, at least 30 percent of food purchases will be locally grown and produced. And right now, we believe that this will result in our spending on local food from $4 million to $400 million over the next five years. So, this is a very big deal for our farmers. It's part of my commitment back in my first State of the State address. Do we increase the capacity of our food system and create more demand for locally grown – locally grown meaning our farmers.
I’ll also be signing two bills. This one establishes a youth agriculture technology challenge at the State Fair in partnership with Cornell. So, we'll be unveiling the details of that. That's introduced by our Assemblymember, Carrie Woerner and Senator James Skoufis. And also, the goal is to have kids develop technological solutions to some of our biggest problems facing the industry, increasing food production, getting more yield from a seed.
Also, addressing the impacts of climate change on our farmers because they're out there on the front line. They're the ones experiencing in real time what is happening when the seasons are shifting so quickly and the unprecedented weather events. We literally just had a 1,000-year flooding event in the Hudson Valley, followed by two tornadoes Upstate, followed by epic snowstorms, torrential rains, and at the bottom of it, you may not be thinking about the people most affected, it is our farmers on their land. Let's appreciate that. Let's find ways to help them innovate their way out of this crisis, because otherwise we all suffer.
The second bill I will sign will increase the number of local fairs in helping them receive reimbursement for youth competitions, for livestock and arts and crafts and showmanship. And again, that's by Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Carrie Woerner. This is a way we can support our smaller fairs, but also a marketing plan of $1 million to help our smaller fairs because this goes on for 13 days and this is all the attention. But throughout the summer and fall, we want to make sure that our local fairs, the ones that really are important to the identity of our smaller communities, can thrive.
So, I want to thank all of our farmers for what they do for us every single day. They are the unsung heroes of our economy. We export many, many products that I'm proud of across this country and across the world, but this is a way we say, “Thank you.” So, when you see a farmer, walk up and give them a big hug and say, “Thank you for giving us the food to nurture our families, to sustain us, and to make New York so proud of our agricultural history.” And it all starts right here at the State Fair.
I want to thank everybody. I think I forgot to mention Senator Mannion here as well. Senator Mannion is sitting right there. Thank you. Thank you to our delegation. Thank you. And now we'll move on to our bill signing welcoming our partners from the legislature and others.