By Emma Trapp and Lisa Conley
Round Table editors
The Great Frederick Fair has many great components, but perhaps one of the most beloved is the food. The fair has been serving up food for 148 years and although some people question the sanitary conditions of the food stands, the strict health regulations leave little room for sanitary slip-up.
Food vendors at The Great Frederick Fair are required to have a permit to operate in Frederick County and throughout the state of Maryland. Health inspectors make regular trips to the fair to ensure that all regulations are being fulfilled.
“The health inspectors make sure what needs to be cold is cold, what needs to be hot is hot, and what needs to be clean is clean,” said Connie Cross, a Frederick fair food vendor.
Every food trailer contains hand washing sinks, paper towels, and soap to meet the health code. While serving up food, all vendors are required to wear hair nets and gloves.
If regulations are not met, vendors may be stripped of their permit depending on the severity of the infraction.
“If the violation is small, health inspectors give vendors a chance to fix it, which they usually do at night,” said John Thompson, a volunteer at the New Market Grange.
Despite the strict health regulations, some people are skeptical of the sanitary conditions.
“If people aren’t from around here, they’ll say the food conditions are dirty, but anyone from Frederick knows it’s clean,” said Tom Deater Jr., who has been attending The Great Frederick Fair for 40 years.
Most people don’t come to the fair to question the food but instead, they come to enjoy the memories it brings back.
“It might be the memories or the tradition, but food just seems to taste better outdoors,” said police officer James Price. Others come to the fair to eat things that they don’t eat on a regular basis.
“My favorite food at the fair is defiantly the Italian sausage. It’s nice to treat yourself to something you can only get at the fair,” said Toni Mullen, a Monument Foam Insulators employee.
Whether people think the food is sanitary or not, everyone agrees that the fair food brings something special to a trip to The Great Frederick Fair.
