SACRAMENTO, CA - Part of any fair experience is the food. But do you know where your corn dog and ice cream sundae come from?
Fairs originated as a way for farmers to show-off their livestock and produce. In recent years, a lot of fair-focus has drifted away from agriculture and towards novelty snacks and carnival rides.
Dr. Eric Davis, a veterinarian with UC Davis, works with pregnant and birthing dairy cows at the State Fair's Livestock Nursery. "There's a big problem in particularly this country. The average person has no clue as to where their food comes from."
Dr. Davis says the calves are almost immediately separated from their mothers in order to protect the purity of the milk. The mother cow is sent back to the dairy for milking, while the calf is fed milk until it's strong enough to eat solid food and become a dairy cow or a steer for meat.
"This is a reality of how you get an extremely wholesome, safe and very inexpensive, high protein food source. Milk has been described as the perfect food," explains Dr. Davis.
Cows, pigs, goats and sheep give birth daily at the State Fair's livestock nursery, which fair goers are welcome to observe.
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