This little piggy went to the fair...

When I think of an agricultural fair, I think of gaggles of farmers tugging along their carts filled to the brim with piles and piles of fresh produce, some engorged pumpkins, fresh cheese, and possibly even a pie competition or two... What is definitely not included in this image is deep fried Pepsi!


Maybe its because I've been ruined by our own Toronto Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and its focus on healthy living, but what is being served at the Florida State Fair in Tampa doesn't seem to connect to my expectations of a good, old agricultural fair. Both events have renown equestrian competitions, but any similarities between the two stop there. The Florida State Fair is self described on their website as being a "salute to the state's best in the agriculture" industry (Florida State Fair, 2009) - although after learning about the show's focus and offerings it is justified to wonder if the organizers actually understand the meaning of the word agriculture! This event, held for 12 days in February every year, is famous for their 300 plus stalls of junk food... And when I say they serve junk food, I don't mean potato chips and doughnuts - I mean that this is a venue to witness and try some really creative and sometimes stupid ways to eat the life out of your heart!! To give you just a taste, the menu this year consisted of products like strawberry shortcake on a stick, chocolate-dipped bacon (picture on the right), bacon flavoured lip balm (why???), deep fried butter (which is frozen, sweetened butter battered then deep-fried and covered in powdered sugar) and of course deep fried Pepsi - who (surprise, surprise) sponsors the fair each year. Deep-fried Pepsi, I know by this point you're probably dying to know, is made by deep-frying a Pepsi-syrup infused batter that is then coated with more Pepsi-syrup.


The signature product for the fair created this year is called the FairSquare and is a deep-fried doughnut with pink powdered sugar, which ironically donates 10% of its proceeds for breast cancer research (like taking one tiny step forward and jumping back four at the same time). But perhaps the most disturbing item on the list of high fat, high calorie concoctions (and definitely something that makes my heart flutter with fear at just the thought) is the Krispy Kreme doughnut burgers. Yes... Unfortunately it is exactly what it sounds like: two doughnuts with a beef patty, bacon strips and cheese in between. It packs estimated 1, 000 calories (not to mention the fat and sugar content) a serving, which is 1/2 of the average person's daily calorie intake. Just in case you're imagination needs help to visualize this concoction, I have included a photo for your enjoyment below. If your curious to see what other "unique" foods can be found at the fair, check out the complete list of the new products introduced this year at: http://www.floridastatefair.com/pdffiles/2010fair_newfairfoodslist.pdf, (but you are forewarned that some of the products may elicit head shaking, shocked gasping and disbelief that anyone has that much time).
To give you an idea for the kind of demand at the fair for some of these products, the deep-fried Pepsi is estimated to sell between 60 to 100 orders per day. While most people who try the food found at this fair are probably just interested in the novelty of the product, you have to wonder about the effect of glamorizing junk food in this way. The Krispie Kreme doughnut burgers are already popping up at different locations around the States (e.g. minor baseball league games etc.) and there are many websites that are dedicated to displaying as many heart stoppingly, fat food concoctions as people can create (e.g. www.thisiswhyyourefat.com). I really feel that the "normal" junk food we have readily accessible is advertised and glamorized enough, without having to add these unusual additions to the mix. What disappoints me the most is that this is suppose to be an agricultural fair and from what I can see the closest agricultural products offered are the deep-fried green beans - enough said. I believe that this type of event should be held up to a higher standard and should be focused on promoting farmers and their produce, rather than to just be another venue for the multinational junk food chains to promote their unhealthy products. The silver lining? I guess we Canadians don't just know how to play and win at hockey... We know how to throw a REAL agricultural fair. Go Canada Go!

References

Florida State Fair. (2009). State fair. Retrieved February 20, 2010, from http://www.floridastatefair.com/state-fair.

Marche, S. (2010, February 20). A taste of junkfood's ground zero. The Toronto Star, p. IN3.