As summer draws to a close, the season’s final county fairs sweep up crusted corn dog sticks, dismantle the tilt-o-whirl, and lock up their gates. In all, California hosted 78 such fairs this year alone, drawing millions of attendees and generating millions more in revenue—all overseen by the FDA’s Division of Fairs & Expositions, providing "fiscal and policy oversight to ensure the best use of available funding and other services.”
But to local farmers visiting fairs bearing their county’s name, it’s hard to see the “unswerving commitment to showcase and provide education on the wealth of our agricultural community.” The pygmy goats await ogling, the sheep are sheered each day at noon, and grease-the-pig remains a favorite—but the petting zoo itself is sponsored by McDonald's.
But to local farmers visiting fairs bearing their county’s name, it’s hard to see the “unswerving commitment to showcase and provide education on the wealth of our agricultural community.” The pygmy goats await ogling, the sheep are sheered each day at noon, and grease-the-pig remains a favorite—but the petting zoo itself is sponsored by McDonald's.
While the horse race and flower show attract some, what defines a county fair is the food: funnel cake, snow cones and macaroni-stuffed cheeseburgers on kripsy cream buns. To the local farmers who depend upon the sale of their products to survive, a quick stroll behind the neon-colored vendor booths quickly calls into question a commitment to “showcase the abundance of our county”: boxes of curly fries, corn on the cob and BBQ ribs, all shipped in from another county, state or even country.
Alternative gatherings that promote healthy eating and sustainable agriculture are multiplying, but the county fair remains one of the largest and most diverse gatherings, drawing people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. And its time-honored soul need not succumb to the proselytizing of kale-chip-munching locavores, but where millions of people are willing to pay seven dollars for a snow cone—tap water, high fructose corn syrup, and food coloring—why does the county fair miss the economic opportunity to incentivize the purchase of local ingredients? From pork to potatoes, much of the food familiar to fair-goers is available locally. And as fairs the country over have proven: anything can be shoved on a stick and deep-fried.
The challenge remains where it most often does: the logistical inconvenience of sourcing from a variety of small-scale producers with their own unique character and constraints versus a small handful of simple contracts with streamlined vendors never hindered by availability, seasonality or integrity. How can local producers collaborate to overcome these obstacles and tap into this enormous annual market? How can the county fair board promote local sourcing? What challenges stand in the way of producer-driven aggregation? What public education will be required to prepare and excite fair-goers about these local alternatives and will that promotion compromise its contracts with existing vendors who depend upon anonymous imports whose profits end up far from local pockets? What will it take for local farmers to benefit from an institution founded in the name of their own bounty?
Alternative gatherings that promote healthy eating and sustainable agriculture are multiplying, but the county fair remains one of the largest and most diverse gatherings, drawing people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. And its time-honored soul need not succumb to the proselytizing of kale-chip-munching locavores, but where millions of people are willing to pay seven dollars for a snow cone—tap water, high fructose corn syrup, and food coloring—why does the county fair miss the economic opportunity to incentivize the purchase of local ingredients? From pork to potatoes, much of the food familiar to fair-goers is available locally. And as fairs the country over have proven: anything can be shoved on a stick and deep-fried.
The challenge remains where it most often does: the logistical inconvenience of sourcing from a variety of small-scale producers with their own unique character and constraints versus a small handful of simple contracts with streamlined vendors never hindered by availability, seasonality or integrity. How can local producers collaborate to overcome these obstacles and tap into this enormous annual market? How can the county fair board promote local sourcing? What challenges stand in the way of producer-driven aggregation? What public education will be required to prepare and excite fair-goers about these local alternatives and will that promotion compromise its contracts with existing vendors who depend upon anonymous imports whose profits end up far from local pockets? What will it take for local farmers to benefit from an institution founded in the name of their own bounty?
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