Iowa State Fair’s Vegan Cooking Competition Nabs a Blue Ribbon From PETA

Country’s Largest State Fair Recognizes Growing Interest in Plant-Based Fare

For Immediate Release:
August 20, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

The Iowa State Fair may be known for its 600-pound butter cow, but you won’t find a scrap of butter—or milk, meat, or eggs—in many of the fair’s dishes. Not only can guests enjoy fresh salads, veggie corn dogs, and other meat-free dishes from a multitude of food stalls, the fair also boasts a “Vibrant Vegan” cooking competition. Prizes on Sunday, August 17, were awarded to the top three entries in both the Main Dish and Vegan Dessert classes. And now, the vegan-friendly Iowa State Fair has nabbed its own blue ribbon from PETA to display at future events.

“PETA’s blue ribbon celebrates the Iowa State Fair’s enthusiasm for showcasing vegan meals, snacks, and desserts,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “As it hosts the largest food department of any state fair in the country, Iowa is showing other states how to meet fairgoers’ hunger for food that’s as delicious as it is kind to animals.”

In addition to sparing more than 100 animals every year daily suffering and a terrifying death in today’s industrialized meat, egg, and dairy industries, vegans are less likely to suffer from heart disease, diabetes, strokes, obesity, and cancer than meat-eaters are. They also have smaller carbon footprints, as the meat industry is a major producer of the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—offers tips and recipes for plant-based eating on its website.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.