Events and Activities : Iowa State Fair Can Sculpture to Aid Food Insecure

The Iowa State Fair is set to include an exciting new project to celebrate food and farming while helping those who are food insecure. Together We CAN will feature sculptures of the Butter Cow and other agricultural items made out of canned goods. The Iowa State Fair celebrates 100 years of the Butter Cow August 11-21.

Together We CAN will use thousands of cans of food to sculpt a larger-than-life replica of the Butter Cow, a milk carton and a market hog set in a "field" of corn and soybeans. Following the Fair, all the canned goods in the exhibit will go to the food insecure throughout the state.

The display, located in the south atrium of the Varied Industries Building, will be staffed with farmers, commodity group partners, food bank staff and others who will interact with Fairgoers and spread the word about food, farming and those in need.

This unique exhibit is coordinated by the Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa FFP), an activity-led initiative celebrating the miracle of food and the men and women who provide it. A large part of Iowa FFP's mission is to serve the food insecure. They are partnered with the Iowa Food Bank Association to ensure that all canned goods and monetary funds go directly where it's needed statewide.

The sculptures will be built by Canstruction, a national non-profit organization with chapters made up of engineers and architects.

"Nothing Compares" to the 2011 Iowa State Fair, celebrating 100 years of the Butter Cow August 11-21. For more information, call 800/545-FAIR or visit www.iowastatefair.org.