What can the Vegan & Meat-eater eat at the Iowa State Fair?

Well, the meat eater can eat A LOT!  The vegan is more limited, but definitely won't starve!

The 2012 Iowa State Fair was blessed with some fantastic weather and the second highest attendance on record.  Thanks in part to one particular meat eater who made the trip up from Florida to get his ISF experience!

Now, just because I am a vegan doesn't mean I don't know my Iowa State Fair foods!  I've been going to the fair my whole life and know just which turkey leg stand and just which pork chop on a stick stand is the best.

Hold on to your heart valves, this is what the Meat-eater can eat: 


Jeff's first day at the fair, I had to take some food to contest around noon so he came to the fair hungry and could hardly stand to watch the contest.

 I took him immediately afterwords to the Iowa Turkey Federation's, turkey leg hut where he received a grilled Iowa-grown turkey drumstick for $6:

Half an hour later, he had it about finished. 

This pumpkin is for show, not for eating!  The Biggest Pumpkin winner was a 933lb pumpkin from Riverside, Iowa sitting outside the Agricultural Building.


Inside the Agriculture Building is the famous Butter Cow -- a life-sized cow sculpted out of butter.

Also in the Ag building are the various Iowa agricultural industry booths handing out free samples.

The meat eater had a hard boiled egg on a stick from the Iowa Egg Producers (Iowa is the largest egg producer in the nation).  He got a sample of Iowa's own Maidrite ground beef.

Then we went to my favorites: the roasted nuts folks, who roast peanuts, cashew, almonds, and pecan in cinnamon.  The cinnamony-sweet smell wafts through the air and taste wonderful, warm right out of the roaster!

Then we stopped at the Iowa Honeybee Association's place.  Now, this is where I part from ordinary vegans who don't eat honey

because it comes from an "animal."  

My interpretation is not appetizing, but honey is really just bee vomit and they CHOOSE to live in the hives and then we just take away their vomit.  I really don't see anything wrong with that, and it tastes pretty good.

Homemade honey lemonade

So the honey bee folks make lemonade with they sell for $2 a glass every year since I can remember and I love it!

Noticeably missing this year for the vegan snacker, was the Soy Nut booth - a company that makes soybeans into various flavors of crunchy nuts.

Salad on a Stick

Fresh fruit guy

PB & J on a Stick

Among the available vegan options are fresh chopped fruit, salad on a stick, PB & J on a stick, and my personal favorite, sweet potato fries. 

Delicious vitamin-A rich sweet potato fries

My favorite food vendor at the ISF!

Later that night we returned to the fair with my brother and his girlfriend, and kept eating.  Although Jeff tucked in his shirt for the occasion.

First stop at night was the Nitro Ice cream booth.  Nitro Ice Cream was invited by a good Iowa State guy where by he using liquid nitrogen to flash-freeze cream and sugar to make the worlds smoothest creamiest ice cream.  The server went overboard though on the chocolate syrup.







The Pork Chop on a Stick is an Iowa State Fair classic.  We stopped by the Iowa Pork Producers to get the best. 


Walking through the midway, amongst all the lights, games, rides and carnies we found a booth that sold batter fried butter.

They also sold deep fried Twinkies, Oreos, Kool-aid, and probably some other things.






The boys decided to get the Deep Fried Sampler, consisting of fried butter, fried Twinkie and fried Oreos.

A deep fried Twinkie and deep fried Oreo covered in powdered sugar and chocolate syrup.








 And here they go...

Yeah, that fried thing looks good!

The consensus was that the deep fried things were much tastier than one might think from the sound of them.   Jeff's favorite overall were the fried Oreos.

Nom nom nom, fried twinkie

  Fried Butter:

Fried {1/2} stick of butter with sugar icing

Hmm, not sure about this.

Picture of the first bite of fried butter taken in anticipation of boiling butter spraying everywhere.  But that didn't happen.

Hey now, that's not bad!

The fried butter had melted into the batter it was dipped in resulting in a treat tasting more like buttery french toast.  Surprisingly, this heart attack-on-a-stick tasted very good!

Jeff getting in on the fried butter.

Special thanks to this guy from Belle City Amusements, Inc. for convincing the boys to try the deep fried sampler.  Couldn't convince the vegan though. 

Jeff's last day at the fair, we had to get him the newest fair food on a stick -- the double bacon wrapped corn dog.  They take your normal corn dog, wrap it in bacon, and then dip it again in a batter filled with bacon bits. 

Double bacon wrapped corn dog.

Having had a satisfying food-filled fair experience, I think I can get him back next year for the latest and greatest fried food on a stick .

Nothing about at the "Veggie Table" vendor is vegan. Nothing.