Human Flower Project

Monday, August 30, 2010

Tipping the Scale in Kentucky

Allen Bush reports from the state fair on donut burgers and leaking pumpkins—the next best thing to being there. Thank you, Allen!

FFA members from John Hardin H. S., Radcliff, KY, greet Freddy Farm Bureau, a fixture of the state fair
Photo: Allen Bush

By Allen Bush

Country folks and city folks meet every sweltering August at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville for corn dogs, horse shows, games of chance, beekeepers and bumper cars.  You can count on donkeys and the Oak Ridge Boys each year, too. The fair just wouldn’t be the same without big Asses and Elvira. 

Notions of healthy Kentucky grown produce – and there is plenty around in local farm markets - are pushed aside for ten days of corn dogs, snow cones, funnel cakes and elephant ears. (A delicious beef brisket barbeque was the closest thing to Pritikin I could find.)  The atherosclerotic-inducing donut bacon cheeseburger was this year’s sensation. Add an order of chili cheese fries and you could clog the next oil spill. (You wonder why, in all of “Fast Food Nation,” no one ever came-up with a donut bacon cheeseburger before, and then you’re reminded that it took 5,000 years for someone to put wheels on a suitcase.)

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