CULTURE AND AGRICULTURE: Celebrating Texas Agriculture in the Middle East

Culture and Agriculture:

Celebrating Texas Agriculture in the Middle East BY JEAN LONIE

BY TOM KARST

Inflation

You never know where you’ll find a fellow Texan. I am coming to believe that there is something in the global cosmos that makes it nearly impossible for Texans to not find each other when out and about in the world. This fledgling theory was put to the test last month in Dubai when 12 producers and agricultural industry leaders went with the Texas Department of Agriculture to participate in Gulfood and host Texas Day and an agricultural roundtable at the USA Pavilion of Expo 2020, the modern day version of the World’s Fair. Within hours of landing in Dubai, I got word of a couple from my husband’s hometown were also in the city at the same time. Since our two pecan growers in the group were also from the same town – which has a population of 4,300 or so people – it felt like a really high percentage of townsfolks who were in or connected to Dubai at that moment! When you dig a little deeper and find out how many oil, energy, and engineering jobs are in Dubai (and the entire Middle East region), it becomes far less of a surprise that so many Texans are there. It may be a slight stretch to say Texans are running the world, but they are absolutely building and shaping it! As it turns out, Texans are also feeding the world. It was that role as a leading exporter of food and agri-

cultural products that spurred this journey east. It was a chance for leaders of our state agricultural commodity groups to better understand the opportunities for Texas products in this growing global market, and to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime moment to promote our state during a world’s fair.

What started as a pretty straightforward trade show experience wound up being an incredibly valuable cultural experience. Cramming onto the Dubai metro train together one evening; scaling the world’s tallest building; promoting each other’s commodities as buyers and importers from around the world came by to learn, haggle, and (hopefully!) buy. We went there as beef, sorghum, peanut, pecan, and citrus representatives, but the group left as Team Texas Agriculture, serving as each other’s champions and cheerleaders and global ambassadors for a state that is renowned around the world.

We also found out that our passion for agriculture isn’t unique just to us. We were located in the USA Pavilion of the Gulfood show, but every day we went past the exhibits promoting foods and beverages from Ireland, Mexico, France, Brazil, Australia, Argentina, Ukraine, Italy (where the gelato was fabulous!) …. The energy and excitement everyone had for their products and industries was almost equal to ours. There were also daily reminders of the great global reputation our state enjoys – and how excited our fellow global citizens are to see Texans in cowboy boots and hats. Perhaps most importantly, it was a great reminder for all of us that food is an incredibly unifying force. For many of our group, this was their first time in the Middle East. While we had the chance to represent Texas, it was also a moment for us to engage with hundreds to thousands of visitors from a myriad of other countries and cultures.

Exploring the country pavilions at Expo 2020 was like getting a glimpse at around-the-world travel. The exhibits highlighted the places and people of 190+ countries and let visitors get a sense of the pride their citizens have in their homelands.

Being part of the end of the day commuter crush on the train during rush hour let us sneak a glimpse of life in a bustling metropolis. Sitting down to eat lunch at a small café off the beaten path showed that in some places the value of the meal is the time together, not the speed of service.

These experiences are a big part of what we brought back to Texas. This new knowledge not only of what market opportunities are out there for us, but also the relationships and insight into the people that want to purchase Texas products.

There is no doubt the sales we’ll make as a result of this trip are important. Knowing a bit more about the cultures and people we will be selling to is invaluable.