The Ohio State Fair Food App

by Naomi Shulman, Posted Jul 29th 2010 @ 1:00PM

food concession stand at the state fair Photo: Kevin Dooley, Flickr

In many corners of the country it's fair-going time, and you know what that means: whiplash-inducing rides, cheap stuffed animal prizes, and oh yeah, food. Lots of food, mostly the kind you rarely let yourself indulge in -- cotton candy, for example, or (kill me now) fried dough. If you're going to schlep your way to the fairgrounds and bump elbows with everyone else in the county, you're going to want your yearly fix of the bad (but oh-so-good) stuff. So how are you going to find it in the crowds?

That's where the Food Finder comes in. The Ohio State Fair, anticipating a throng of hungry patrons, has created a mobile app that tells you exactly where to locate that Italian sausage or cheese on a stick you've been longing for. Many state fairs and amusements parks have put up websites detailing all the food options; Ohio's info can even be accessed right on your cellphone -- so while your kids are screaming on the Tilt-A-Whirl, you can scope out the nearest candy-apple cart.

Of course, the app does more than satisfy fair-going appetites -- it gives vendors a boost, too. Brian Shenkman, whose fried buckeyes were one of the hottest thing going at least year's fair, told Ohio's News 10 Team that he expects the new technology to help his business. "[W]e won't have the complaints that we had last year with people saying they can't find us," he said. "You'll find us now."

In other words, everyone wins -- except perhaps our waistlines. Deep-fried Snickers bar, anyone? Meet you at the Ferris wheel.

Filed Under: Gadgets
Tags: fair food, food finder, iphone app, ohio state fair, ohio state fair food