A Greener Visit to the MN State Fair

A Greener Visit to the MN State Fair - Dara & Co. - August 2010 - Minnesota

The Minnesota State Fair is almost underway, and once again has a lot to offer in terms edible and educational opportunities in 2010. This year at the fair you can learn more about how we can reduce our impact on the environment by how we maintain our diets, homes, and communities. Below I've put together a list of events and food items that can give your annual fair experience a new, greener twist.

Attend Minnesota Cooks on Tuesday, August 31
Minnesota Cooks is an annual local food event that shares information about local farmers, local food, and local chefs. The program, which runs 9 a.m.-5 p.m., is broken into hour-long segments. Each hour, two local chefs are paired with a local farmer and local ingredients. The chefs create dishes to feed celebrity tasters and provide samples to hungry audience members. They share information and field questions from the audience. I've attended the past three years and have learned a lot about local foods in Minnesota. Stop by Carosel Park and learn more about food made in our state.

Stop by the Eco-Experience
Presented by the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Eco-Experience showcases renewable energy and exhibits on air, water, land, green buildings, organic agriculture, and renewable energy. Check out the Sustainability Stage schedule for daily events.

Visit the Minnesota Grown Booth
The Minnesota Grown booth educates fair-goers about the diversity of Minnesota products and where people can find them. It's located in the ag/hort building.

Sample Locally Produced Food:

• Wild rice burgers, wild rice sausage, waffle fries, and wild rice corndogs at Minnesota Wild Rice Specialties
• Minnesota wild rice sausages with beef or pork and jalapeno cheese at Sausage by Cynthia
• Buffalo kabobs at Minnekabob
• Minnesota wine, ice cream, and sausage made with Minnesota wine at MN Wine Country
• Bison jerky and meat sticks from the MN Buffalo Association
• Elk meat cookbooks, elk jerky, elk snack sticks, and elk summer sausage from MN Elk Breeders
• Minnesota apples, apple cider, apple sauce, and frozen cider pop from MN Apples
• Honey (liquid, spun, creamed, comb, whipped) in glass and plastic containers, honey jams, honey jellies, honey candy, cookies, ice cream, honey nut fudge ice cream, and honey nut frozen yogurt from MN Honey Producers Association

Consider Public Transportation
Free parking with free bus service to the fairgrounds is available at various locations within a short distance of the fairgrounds. Park & Ride operated, 8 a.m.-midnight, daily.

Consider Biking
This bike map shows the location of the State Fair bike corrals and recommends routes.

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]