Minnesota State Fair is the most popular in the country

[question everything]

From TIME magazine

(snip)

It’s the one I grew up attending, and not only is the Minnesota State Fair the nation’s most popular, as measured by average daily attendance, its history also tracks the migration of fair fare from biological necessity to whatever it is that’s going on now. For decades, hungry fairgoers found sustenance inside dining halls operated by churches. There were dozens on the fairgrounds before the Great Depression. One of the two that survives today, the Hamline Methodist Church Dining Hall, is famous for its ham loaf and still innovating: its snowcap mini waffle sundae made the list of “new foods” available at the 2019 fair.

The list, the release of which always makes news, includes only three “on a stick” foods this year, possibly marking a transition, though likely not a healthy one. The loneliest stand at my last state fair offered “fruit on a stick.” A passerby read the sign aloud to his companion, paused and, in a deadpan that was itself delicious, asked: “Do you remember fruit?”

https://time.com/5624284/why-do-people-eat-state-fair-food/