HARRISBURG, Pa. — The 109th Pennsylvania Farm Show commenced three days after people celebrated the new year and made resolutions for healthy living.
Some visitors considered the Farm Show a chance to “pig out” on batter-fried vegetables, thick creamy milkshakes, butter-sopped potatoes, loaded French fries, maple candy and honey-sweetened waffles.
While some merely visited the food court, ate and left, others considered it a place to eat well and get lots of exercise walking around the 24-acre complex. Some of them even lost a few pounds.
Each year, the PA Dairymen's Association uses about 4 tons of mozzarella cheese in their fried cheese cubes at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
“The Farm Show can be healthy or unhealthy for you,” said McKinsey Bailey of New Cumberland, a personal trainer and nutrition coach. “There is a wide array of food choices. It’s easy to overload on fats and sweets. But you also could buy one of those foods, taste it and share it with someone.”
She recommended all Farm Show visitors eat a good, filling breakfast “and not show up at the Farm Show starved.”
The food court offered healthy options — apples from the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania, sliced pit beef barbecue from the Pennsylvania Livestock Association, vegetable soup from the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, mushroom salad from the Pennsylvania Mushroom Growers and hard-boiled eggs from Penn Ag Industries.
“We sell healthy food here,” said Chris Herr, Penn Ag Industries executive vice president and manager of the group’s booth. “We don’t fry a single thing. We have gluten-free air-fried chicken tenders, as healthy as chicken can get. Our fish is baked. We have pulled pork. You can eat healthy.”
The Farm Show also offered visitors practically unlimited exercise opportunities.
“All people had to do was just walk through the 24 acres,” Bailey said. “People don’t equate walking with exercise but it is. You can track your steps. It’s also important to stay hydrated. Our bodies are 70% water. The average adult should drink 64 ounces of water a day.”
Adelaide Miller of Mill Hall spent the Farm Show week working on its Junior Committee doing everything from selling Farm Show T-shirts to gathering trash in the three arenas. Before the event, she decided to turn the week into a healthy experience.
Adelaide Miller checks out dairy goats while getting in her steps at the Farm Show.
“I’m a runner who’s into nutrition and exercise,” she said. “I have been eating healthy two-thirds of the time. I brought along salads and Greek yogurt to eat but I also have one treat a day.”
Those treats have included a mint milkshake, honey-sweetened waffles, a turkey leg and chicken tenders.
Miller routinely tracks her steps, planning to at least do her usual 12,000 steps a day. She exceeded that at the Farm Show.
“On opening day, I did 27,648 steps or 12.9 miles,” she said. “Most days I’m doing 26,000 steps. I did the least miles on Thursday, when I only had 14,739 steps or 6.8 miles. That was the day I was doing office work.”
Bailey’s mother, Liz Bailey, worked as the Main Exhibition Hall floor manager.
“Every year, I lose 5 pounds from walking at the Farm Show,” she said. “When I’m not at the Farm Show, I’m an office chair potato. Lots of walking here makes me feel energized.”
