Illinois State Fair launches breakfast-stick contest http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/08/19/news/doc46c90424637aa469083351.txt State Fair: Fitness, food a fair challenge http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/334297.html State Fair Recipes http://www.statefairrecipes.com Minnesota State Fair http://www.mnstatefair.org/ Wisconsin State Fair Historical Gallery http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/feature/statefair/ In 1945, Rodgers and Hammerstein penned the musical "State Fair", and it stood as a testament to pie contests, young love, and naturally enough, the state of Iowa. People enjoyed state fairs for decades before and after their musical, though there is one remarkable change afoot in the world of state fairs that is worth noting. This year, the Indiana State Fair decided to require food vendors to use trans-fat-free cooking oil. To many, this seemed to fly in the face of all that is most right and true about the culinary offerings at a quality state fair. Of course, this rather mirrors trends in other parts of American life, but some would claim that a corn dog or a funnel cake that was fried without trans-fat is a form of culinary sacrilege. A number of other state fairs around the country will be providing trans-fat free offerings this summer, including the fairs in Texas and Minnesota. One Indiana State Fair patron, Glenn Nice, commented upon finishing one of the trans-fat-free corn dogs, "I've eaten a lot of corn dogs in my life, and I can't taste any difference at all." The first link will take visitors to a piece from this Tuesday's New York Times about the ban on trans-fats. The article also discusses the complex world of deep-fried Pepsi, which is well worth learning about. Moving on, the second link leads to an article in the Bloomington Pantagraph which talks about the intriguing breakfast on a stick contest that was held recently at the Illinois State Fair. The third link leads to a piece from this Monday's Sacramento Bee which talks about the difficulty of staying fit and making sensible dining decisions while at the California State Fair. For those individuals who can't get to a state fair this summer, the fourth site provides easy access to dozens of interesting recipes culled from state fair recipe contests. The Scout Report does not officially offer any endorsements of any particular state fair, but the fifth link offered here does lead to the homepage of the Minnesota State Fair, which is quite a fine one indeed. The last link leads to a digital collection of historical images from past Wisconsin State Fairs created by the Wisconsin Historical Society.