It hit me while I was chatting with a rather sunburned southern-Iowa farmer during the first day of the 2005 Iowa State Fair; I've been to no less than 30 of these. In that time, I've seen the weather alternate between tropical and mostly tropical. I've sewed outfits and painted pictures, won purple ribbons for the Woolstock Willing Workers 4-H club and even been muscled around the show ring by a steer at the governor's charity steer auction. I've met complete strangers who became fast friends after five minutes at the lemonade stand and listened to fond reminisces of centurions who watched their great-grandkids from the comfort of shaded park benches near Pioneer Hall. Big boars moan and grunt and roll over to a shocked crowd of wide-eyed kids and giggling adults. Hey, I'm sorry, but that just never gets old! And, I've lost count of how many "food on a stick" calories I've consumed.
But this year's fair was about more than funnel cakes.
Rising health-care costs are the number-one concern of Iowa Farm Bureau members. Because the farm bureau doesn't want farmers to choose between staying healthy or staying farming, they hosted free health screenings at Farm Bureau Park during the Iowa State Fair. Hundreds of Iowans lined up for the free screenings ranging from blood-pressure tests to bone-density screenings to hearing checkups.
They got a wakeup call. Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad shared the mixed health-news results. According to the Des Moines University and Hy-Vee Pharmacy health screenings provided at Farm Bureau Park, nearly a quarter of the participants were in the "at risk" category for their weight. Forty percent were at-risk for their nutrition habits. Over 83 percent were at-risk for diabetes and hypertension. A quarter of the folks hadn't had a routine physical in the past three years, and over 85 percent were at moderate to high risk for skin cancer.
Although just a snapshot of a much greater national health picture, the numbers help illustrate why health-care costs might be on the rise and why it's a concern for us all.
Does this mean Iowa fair-goers will give up their food on a stick? Their beloved funnel cakes? Of course not. The fair is the fair, and much like the rose of Shakespearean prose, you could call it by any other name, but it would smell as sweet, since our love affair with less-than-healthy foods will always draw a crowd. But hopefully, those 233 Iowans found out that food on a stick belongs at the fair, not on their family dinner plates every night. Information is power, and free information is, well, priceless.
Hopefully, I'll see you next year at the Iowa State Fair. I'll even bring the sunblock for you.
Laurie Groves
Public Relations Manager
Iowa Farm Bureau
Des Moines
But this year's fair was about more than funnel cakes.
Rising health-care costs are the number-one concern of Iowa Farm Bureau members. Because the farm bureau doesn't want farmers to choose between staying healthy or staying farming, they hosted free health screenings at Farm Bureau Park during the Iowa State Fair. Hundreds of Iowans lined up for the free screenings ranging from blood-pressure tests to bone-density screenings to hearing checkups.
They got a wakeup call. Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad shared the mixed health-news results. According to the Des Moines University and Hy-Vee Pharmacy health screenings provided at Farm Bureau Park, nearly a quarter of the participants were in the "at risk" category for their weight. Forty percent were at-risk for their nutrition habits. Over 83 percent were at-risk for diabetes and hypertension. A quarter of the folks hadn't had a routine physical in the past three years, and over 85 percent were at moderate to high risk for skin cancer.
Although just a snapshot of a much greater national health picture, the numbers help illustrate why health-care costs might be on the rise and why it's a concern for us all.
Does this mean Iowa fair-goers will give up their food on a stick? Their beloved funnel cakes? Of course not. The fair is the fair, and much like the rose of Shakespearean prose, you could call it by any other name, but it would smell as sweet, since our love affair with less-than-healthy foods will always draw a crowd. But hopefully, those 233 Iowans found out that food on a stick belongs at the fair, not on their family dinner plates every night. Information is power, and free information is, well, priceless.
Hopefully, I'll see you next year at the Iowa State Fair. I'll even bring the sunblock for you.
Laurie Groves
Public Relations Manager
Iowa Farm Bureau
Des Moines
