A Whole Lotta Fun and Some Green Too

The N.C. State Fair, which opens Thursday, is not so much about healthy food. It’s 10 days of fun, deep-fried Ho Hos, cotton candy and even chocolate-covered bacon. But there is a whole agricultural component to the fair worth checking out, and this year, the fair has gone green.

You can tour an interactive Green NC home, garage and farm to learn how your house, your car and the food you eat affect the world we live in. The goal is to provide you with some ideas about how you can live “greener” every day. Green topics include sustainable food, eco-friendly living, water conservation, recycling, energy and alternative fuels, and travel. You can also learn about how the fair itself is trying to become greener. Take the Green Pledge Scavenger Hunt!

Be sure to visit the Got to Be NC Agriculture exhibit for local foods to taste and purchase, and take the kids to the fun-filled Field of Dreams exhibit. Here kids can pick crops at a miniature farm, learn how they become other things (such as peanut butter and cereal), then sell them at the exhibit’s farmers’ market. With their income, they can “shop” in the Field of Dreams grocery store. It’s a great way for kids (even adults) to learn more about the connection between local farms and what’s on our dinner plates. Field of Dreams also features a greenhouse this year, storytelling and a coloring contest for kids.

Check out the fair’s exhibits page for more information on all the agricultural exhibits, schedules and more. For fun updates, check out Deep-Fried, the fair’s blog. They’ll e-mail you updates, or even tweet their news on Twitter.