Why We Should All Boycott The Minnesota State Fair

Would you pay $13 — or even $11 — just to get into the food court at The Mall of America? Or just to walk around Southdale, Rosedale, or any other shopping mall? And would you really want to cough up another 13 bucks just for parking at this overpriced consumer mecca?

OF COURSE NOT!

And yet, every year nearly a million people — or more — mindlessly spend their hard-earned cash just to go to The Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Some get-together.

I’ve got a better idea: let’s get together at the Attorney General’s office to combat this egregious consumer fraud. Hey, I’m all for fair improvements and maintenance like clean restrooms and neat fairgrounds, too. But it shouldn’t cost THAT much money just to go to the State Fair. Come on, wake up, people. Somebody’s making big bucks from this get-together, and it sure isn’t anybody in the thundering herd who’s being victimized by this fair’s exorbitant prices.

1. STAY HOME, SAVE MONEY
Sitting this state fair out could save you a lot of money — anywhere from 50 to 200 bucks. And we’re only talking about how much it costs just to park, get in, and partake of food and drink. We’re not counting rides on the Midway or goodies from the Grandstand. Needless to say, if your family consists of parents and two or more children, you might need to take out another mortgage in advance. Sure, you’re having fun and making memories, but at what cost?

2. STAY HOME, STAY HEALTHY

No, I’m not even going to list the fat and cholesterol and salt and sugar content of these delectables on a stick. You know you shouldn’t be eating this crap. You know it’s bad for you. So stay away, stay far away.And if you like walking around THAT much, go wander around a neighborhood lake. Exercise + Good Food = Longer Lifespan. That means no State Fair for you.

3. STAY HOME UNTIL THE STATE FAIR GETS BACK TO BASICS

You can gripe about Governor Mark Dayton all you want, but last Friday, August 26th, he did something that was both politically and ecologically courageous. He actually went to the State Fair and stood in the Agriculture- Horticulture building near an exhibit of real bees to discuss how his new executive order would protect the bees. Finally, a guy who can connect the dots between the food we grow and the food we eat.

If you’re like too many fairgoers, though, you probably have no idea what Governor Dayton was talking about. So here’s a little info that The Sierra Club and Earthjustice have been sharing with everyone for the past year or two. (Note: I haven’t renewed my membership with The Sierra Club, but I have sent $15 to Earthjustice to save the bees.) Big Ag has developed pesticides from nicotine called neonicotinoids or neonics. There is mounting evidence that these neonics can contaminate entire hives and cause colony collapse disorder. Not a good thing for bees or the crops they pollinate for us. Of course, the scientists working for Dow Chemical or Monsanto et. al. claim there’s no direct connection between neonics and bee fatalities. Of course. The same people employed by Big Ag are the same people who say neonics that they developed aren’t the problem. But other scientists who aren’t on Big Ag’s payroll have done enough research studies that show neonics can harm — even kill — honey bees.

Now Minnesota’s governor is playing it smart by issuing new guidelines and restrictions against the use of neonicotinoids before all the bees die, thank God.

How fitting it was, then, that Minnesota’s governor should come to The Minnesota State Fair to remind us of the direct link between the food we grow and eat and the bees that make it possible. NO BEES? HELLO, NOTHING ON A STICK.

That’s what I mean about getting back to basics: making that unmistakable connection between farming and food. Somehow we’ve forgotten why we’ve created state fairs in the first place. State Fairs came into being so agricultural communities could be strengthened and supported. And so city folks in urban areas could be reminded of the important contributions of rural agriculture. Food just doesn’t magically appear at the grocery store. Plants have to be planted, cultivated, grown, and animals have to be born, bred, and butchered. Not an easy or pretty way to make a living.

Too many hazards and too much arduous labor have made farming THE most dangerous job in America. Forget about the romantic idyll of country living. Life on the farm or ranch can mean a lot of hard, dirty, stinky work. A trip to the pig barn at The State Fair will get rid of all those charming Norman Rockwell-y farm fantasies some people still have. So, a state fair can also bring city slickers and their myths down to earth with a big thud.

What’s really missing from Minnesota’s State Fair is this heartfelt celebration of the rural culture. When we grant a special fair day to honor state realtors who are destroying America’s farmlands, we’re really missing the point. And we also have no sense of irony. No state fair should ever celebrate such real estate greed. Better to donate your money to America Farmland Trust (www.farmland.org) than to keep paying the rising costs of admission, food, and entertainment at the fair.

Did you know that America loses nearly an acre of farm and ranch land to developers every minute? I didn’t. But I’m not going to a state fair that prizes industrialization over rural preservation. I’m also not going to blow my bucks on walleye balls and fuzzy Pokeman stuffed toys, then complain later on about our 21st Century famines, either. Better to save the bees now than to mourn them later… Remember, their extinction means no more state fairs. Ever.

Does it sound like I stayed too long at the fair? Well, I didn’t. I stayed home. So should you.