SEDALIA, Mo. – The Missouri State Fair is in full swing and Missouri Farmers Care was found at the front gate collecting cans for a discount on fair admission today.
“We do this every year at the State Fair on Tuesdays – Missouri Farmers Care Food Drive Tuesdays at the Fair,” Dan Kleinsorge of Missouri Farmers Care said. “The food drive component is that for everyone that brings a can can get $1 off fair admission, up to half off. So, if an adult brings four cans, they can get $4 off their fair admission.”
This is the third year in a row that group has had a “canstruction” to raise awareness of the drive. Kleinsorge said the first year was a truck, the second was a giant FFA emblem, and this year, the canstruction is the 4H emblem. The 4H emblem is 14 feet tall and composed of 5,000 cans. The entirety of the canstruction will go to the Sedalia food bank, but the additional cans and money raised will go to the Missouri Food Bank Association. Bings grocery store in Sedalia donated the cans for the canstruction.
“We also collect cash donations at our booth and at the gate and those cash donations go to the Food Bank Association because they can buy food in bulk rates. They can turn a dollar into 10-15 pounds of food,” Kleinsorge said. Kleinsorge said that last year 30,000 pounds of food was raised between donated cans and cash.
“We consider this a natural outgrowth of what farmers do every day, which is feed people,” he said.
Missouri Farmers Care took a very active role in the campaign supporting Amendment 1, the “Right to Farm” amendment, which narrowly passed last Tuesday.
The Missouri State Fair started last Thursday and will continue through Sunday, August 17.
See the construction of the canstruction here: Photos courtesy of Missouri Farmers Care and the Missouri Food Bank Association.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
