2009 NC State Fair

Not much to report for this year's North Carolina State Fair. I attempted to get some updates a few weeks ago and didn't get much information. Unfortunately, the NC State Fair is about the most unfriendly GF place around. I was able to call some vendors myself last year and see what they offered that was Gluten Free. I did not get to do this for 2009.

If I find out anything else, I'll pass it along.

Here is my post about the 2008 NC State Fair - some things may still apply. Wouldn't it be great if the vendors had to fill out some sort of allergen form for the products they are selling?

North Carolina State Fair - Gluten Free Options

I have been doing research over the past few weeks about food vendors offering Gluten Free items at this year's NC State Fair. I have been able to contact several food vendors directly to get at least a small listing of options that should be okay for us to consume during the fair. The organizers of the NC State Fair do not ask their vendors about their Gluten Free status so that made things pretty difficult. I will try to work with them in the near future to improve this process. I've seen other fairs around the country where vendors had signs hung up denoting Gluten Free items were sold there - I think this will be my goal for next year!

Please see the following list below for the vendors, the food they offer and where they are located at the fair. I have spoken to these people about their ingredients and how their products are prepared. Surprisingly, all of them had heard the term Gluten Free and understood the dietary restrictions including cross-contamination issues.

North Carolina State University Ice Cream (919-515-2760)
-The following flavors are Gluten Free (Vanilla, Chocolate, Cherry Vanilla, Chocolate Chocolate
Chip, Chocolate Chip Mint & Strawberry). Stay away from Cookies N Cream and Cookie
Dough!
-Please make sure to ask the server to wash the ice cream scoop before getting your ice cream
as all scoops are used for all the flavors of ice cream.
-The NCSU Ice Cream stand is located near the Turkey Shoot/Grandstand area.

Beaver Concessions (704-202-9238)
-Roasted Corn - cooked in the husk on a grill where nothing else is prepared. They do put
salt & butter on the corn also after it comes off the grill.
-Located near the Turkey Shoot/Grandstand area across from Hobbies and Handicraft
Building.

McBride Concessions (336-407-5413)
-These folks seem to offer a wide array of meat products that are/can be Gluten Free.
-They told me they offer Grilled 1/4 chickens, Turkey Legs, Ribs, Italian Sausages and
Kielbasa all without any marinade whatsoever. The ribs and chicken get sauced after they
are cooked and they recommended you ask for the product without the sauce. Of course, you
would ask for the Sausage and Kielbasa plated with no bun.
-They also offer Gluten Free drinks and cotton candy.
-Located near bathroom in carnival kiddie land near Exposition Building.

Beal Bartholomew (919-291-6044)
-They offer hot dogs, hamburgers and corn on the cob which are Gluten Free.
-Do not order the fries here as they are cooked in the same oil as the corn dogs!
-They said they normally put the hot dogs on a stick since you will be getting them sans bun.
-The corn on the cob is boiled in water not used by anything else.
-Located near bathroom in carnival kiddie land.

Here is a list the organizers of the NC State Fair gave me of vendors that should also be able to provide Gluten Free items (I was not able to reach them via phone and speak with them directly about their options). Use this list at your own risk and make sure to ask a lot of questions about ingredients and preparation techniques of their various items.

-Rolls Enterprises (919-444-9581) - located near bathroom in carnival kiddie land.

-Salad Boys/Butcher Boys (845-758-8794) - located near Turkey Shoot/Grandstand area across from Hobbies and Handicraft Building.

-Jenks Confections (704-276-1509) - located near bathroom in carnival kiddie land & near Exposition Building.

This is not an all-inclusive list as it was very difficult to get a hold of these folks through the fair organizers. It is a starting point and there is much room for improvement at the NC State Fair. I anticipate their actually being more options for us and encourage you to attend, ask questions and the provide feedback here about your experience.

ENJOY!

Some Updates

Just wanted to fill everybody in on a few updates.

• I attended last night's Celiac Support Group meeting and met a ton of great people with a lot more Gluten Free experience than me. I hope to continue to learn from these folks, many of which have been doing this for a long, long time. I intend to post some meeting minutes so that the people who could not attend last night can still know what went on. More to come on that.

• I have been making some progress on finding Gluten Free items at Carolina Hurricanes home games at the RBC Center. The hockey season is quickly approaching. I have been in contact over the last few weeks with the Director of Food and Beverage as well as their Executive Chef. I will let you know more about what is decided for those of us who require/request Gluten Free food and beverage as soon as possible. At this point, things are looking pretty good for us!

• I have also been working on the folks at the NC State Fair which is coming up in a few weeks. In the past, this has been one of my favorite events to attend and I love the food. I estimate that I usually end up consuming somewhere around 7,000 calories in about a 2 hour period (yikes). At this point, I am trying to see if any vendors at the fair can claim to be Gluten Free. This will be a difficult maze to navigate, but many vendors have meat, vegetable, fruit or dessert items that have potential. The main concern here will be cross-contamination. I will let you know what I find out there. I am bummed to have to stay away from the elephant ears and fried snickers bars though - oh well. Maybe I can still get my London Broil sandwich, sans bun. UPDATE 9-20-08 @ 8AM - I heard from the folks at the NC State Fair this morning and they are currently in the process of querying their vendors about Gluten Free Items!

• Lastly, I am a formulating a strategy on how best to contact the many restaurants in the Raleigh area about their Gluten Free friendliness. I plan to start in the Downtown area where there are over 100 restaurants and then work my way out. I have come up with a Online Survey that can best gather this input to at least get the ball rolling. I intend to contact each place and share the feedback that I gather in the Survey. This may get information out a little quicker than everyone waiting for me to eat at each place. More to come on this definitely! UPDATE 9-20-08 @ 8AM - The first 40 surveys were emailed out to restaurants last night. I am starting to get some responses and will provide this feedback to you ASAP. For the other 60 restaurants Downtown, looks like I'll be pounding the pavement on those. Wish me luck!

Thanks and have a great weekend!