Labor Day is just around the corner in Tennessee.

The cicadas are singing, gardens are giving up the last of their summer bounty, grills are still firing and families are beginning to think about one more long summer weekend around tables filled with hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans and all the familiar dishes that come with a backyard cookout.

September also brings the approach of fall hunting seasons and National Hunting and Fishing Day, observed this year on Saturday, Sept. 26.

And while summer may be winding down, ticks are still very much a part of life in Tennessee.

Yes! Ticks. All the ticks. Deer ticks, brown dog ticks and others. But it is the lone star tick, easily recognized on the adult female by the distinctive white spot on her back, that is most closely associated with Alpha-Gal Syndrome in the United States. For some people, a bite can trigger an allergy that leads to significant health concerns and changes not only what is on the menu, but also which food products and ingredients they must carefully consider.

The concern is significant enough that Tennessee health officials are paying closer attention. Alpha-Gal Syndrome became a reportable condition in Tennessee in 2025, meaning healthcare providers are now required to report diagnosed cases to the Tennessee Department of Health.

The Tennessee Department of Health identifies the lone star tick as a common southeastern tick associated with Alpha-Gal Syndrome, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, Heartland virus and Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness. The department says ticks are commonly found in wooded and brushy areas, grassy fields and even yards across Tennessee.

State health officials say Tennessee's greatest tick-related disease activity generally occurs during the warmer months. Reported spotted fever illnesses increase during spring and peak from late spring through late summer, with cases remaining elevated into September.

Alpha-Gal Syndrome, often called AGS, is a potentially serious allergy to alpha-gal, a sugar molecule found in most mammals. People with AGS may react after eating beef, pork, lamb, venison or other mammalian meat. Some people also react to dairy products, gelatin or other products containing mammalian-derived ingredients.

Symptoms can range from hives, itching and stomach problems to difficulty breathing and anaphylaxis. Unlike many food allergies, reactions to alpha-gal are often delayed for several hours after exposure.

That can mean changing far more than what meat goes on the grill.

Green beans once seasoned with a ham hock may need smoked turkey instead. Bacon may disappear from a casserole. Venison chili, sausage breakfasts and a family pot of baked beans may all require a second look.

For Cookeville's Tracy Fisk, those changes became personal after her grown sons, Tyler and Jacob, were diagnosed with Alpha-Gal Syndrome.

"I, along with the boys, have had to educate myself about Alpha-Gal when it comes to meal prep for family meals," Fisk said. "Knowing that they cannot have any meat on the hoof, beef, pork, venison, elk, etc., we have fish or chicken/turkey."

One of the first lessons was learning that adapting a recipe does not necessarily mean giving it up.

"I have learned to use smoked turkey legs to season green beans where I used to use ham hock," Fisk said. "I also have to be mindful of using dairy products in recipes since it comes from a cow. I use vegan cheese products instead."

Her goal is simple.

"With the adaptations, we have learned to make accommodations for Alpha-Gal," she said. "Everyone at the table eats the same thing."

Then, with the humor of a mother who has spent years feeding sons, she added, "No complaints as of yet."

Fisk's baked beans are one of those recipes.

The original version was rich with the flavors many Southern cooks would expect in a pot of baked beans, including venison or elk, pork sausage, barbecue sauce and beans.

When Tyler and Jacob could no longer eat mammalian meat, Tracy did not retire the recipe.

She rewrote it.

The venison and elk came out. The pork sausage came out. Turkey sausage went in.

The result is still the baked bean dish her family knows, only adapted so everyone can gather around the same table.

That may be one of the quieter challenges of living with a food allergy. Food is rarely just food.

Recipes carry memories.

They show up at birthdays, church picnics, reunions, holidays, hunting weekends and backyard cookouts. They connect one generation to the next. When an allergy changes what someone can safely eat, it can also change traditions that once seemed permanent.

But sometimes tradition is not lost.

Sometimes it is adapted.

The Fisk family's story is particularly timely as September approaches.

National Hunting and Fishing Day will be observed Sept. 26, and fall brings with it hunting traditions shared by generations of Tennessee families.

For Tyler and Jacob, Alpha-Gal changed what they could personally eat, but it did not end a hunting tradition they have shared with their family for years.

The Fisk family has hunted together in Tennessee and traveled for hunts in Texas and Montana. Their Tennessee tradition includes hunting in Giles County during the first weekend of December. Around New Year's, the family has hunted with relatives in Texas, and February has included trips to DoeFest in Montana.

The brothers can still hunt. What has changed is what happens to the meat afterward.

When harvested venison cannot be used by the family, donation provides another option.

In Tennessee, Hunters for the Hungry, a Tennessee Wildlife Federation program, allows hunters to donate harvested deer through participating processors. The venison is distributed through food banks, soup kitchens, shelters and other organizations working to provide food to Tennessee families in need.

For hunters living with Alpha-Gal, donating harvested deer provides another way to continue a cherished tradition while helping put protein on someone else's table.

For families navigating Alpha-Gal, that same spirit of adaptation can extend from the woods all the way back to the kitchen.

A recipe changes.

A different sausage goes into the pot.

Everybody still sits down together.

And with Labor Day approaching and hunting season not far behind, Tracy's baked beans offer a reminder that preserving a family tradition does not always mean making something exactly the way it has always been made.

Sometimes preserving the tradition means finding a way for everyone to still have a place at the table.

Ingredients

2 cans Bush's Grillin' Beans
 2 bottles G Hughes Sugar Free BBQ Sauce, Sweet & Spicy
 2 pounds Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles, precooked
 1 small onion, chopped

Directions

Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook for approximately four hours on medium.

Oven option: Combine ingredients in a cast-iron Dutch oven and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Ingredients

2 cans Bush's Grillin' Beans
 2 bottles G Hughes Sugar Free BBQ Sauce, Sweet & Spicy
 1 pound venison or elk, cooked and drained
 1 pound Jimmy Dean pork sausage, cooked and drained

Directions

Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook for approximately four hours on medium.

Oven option: Combine ingredients in a cast-iron Dutch oven and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Food allergy note: Alpha-Gal sensitivity varies from person to person, and product ingredients and manufacturing formulations can change. Readers with Alpha-Gal Syndrome should check current ingredient labels on all packaged products and follow the guidance of their physician or allergy specialist.

If you have a Story Behind the Recipe you'd like to share, email maryleigh@highlandsinsider.com.

Eric, extra Info if there is room is below.

DID YOU KNOW?

Alpha-Gal is now reportable in Tennessee.
 Beginning July 1, 2025, Tennessee requires Alpha-Gal Syndrome to be added to the state's list of reportable diseases and conditions. The change gives state health officials a better mechanism for tracking diagnosed cases in Tennessee.

For information about ticks, outdoor pests and other concerns close to home, residents can also turn to UT Extension, which maintains a Putnam County office in Cookeville.

Tennessee Department of Health
 The state's Vector-Borne Diseases program provides information about ticks found in Tennessee, illnesses associated with them, prevention and what to do following a tick exposure. In April, TDH specifically reminded Tennesseans to use repellents, check themselves for ticks after being outside and shower within two hours after returning indoors.

UT Extension
 UT Extension provides research-based information to Tennesseans through county offices across the state. The Putnam County Extension office is located at 900 S. Walnut Ave., Room 4, Cookeville, and can be reached at 931-526-4561.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
 For current hunting seasons, regulations, licensing and other wildlife information, readers can consult TWRA.