VENTURA COUNTY FAIR : The Fair’s Fare: How Healthy Is It?

There are half-pound slabs of rich, gooey fudge, greasy chili cheese fries and a seemingly endless supply of corn dogs at the Ventura County Fair. It’s an oil slick smeared across rock candy.

But what is there to munch on for those trying to drop a few pounds or wanting just to eat healthfully?

At most of the super-fast food outlets that sprout each year at the fairgrounds, the answer is still not very much.

“If you’re looking to diet, you’ve come to the wrong place,” Marlon Johnson said as he squinted from behind the screened window at a booth called Hot Dog on a Stick.

“We’ve got fried corn dogs, foot-long fried corn dogs and fried Polish sausage on a stick.” He paused, then added: “And Diet Pepsi.”

But change is in the wind--a little bit, anyway.

Vendors in recent years have tried to broaden their fare to include such healthful selections as fresh fruits, salads, pastas and mineral water, food sellers said.

Greater choice is occurring not because food sellers suddenly have developed a concern for public health, vendors say. It is happening because the public is demanding them, said Judy Wolf, a 15-year veteran of the county fair circuit.

“People are more concerned about their health now,” said Wolf, who added baked potatoes to her menu of Italian beef and deep-fried potato skins four years ago.

“Even the little kids are coming up and asking for a baked potato. I look at those little twerps and think, ‘Why don’t you want cotton candy?’ ”

It is a trend that dietitians like Cindy DeMotte applaud.

DeMotte, director of the Nutrition Clinic at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, said that with a little persistence, a weight watcher can find low-fat, low-cholesterol choices throughout the fair.

They can order a potato without butter and sour cream for instance, she said. Or ask for the toppings on the side so that the amount of added fat can be strictly controlled, DeMotte said.

Another relatively healthful snack is one of those big, soft pretzels found in nearly every food booth, she said.

“As long as you don’t slather it with Cheez Whiz, they are good because they’re fat-free.”

But DeMotte is no food fascist. Everybody needs to indulge now and then, she said, adding that her favorite fair treat is a caramel apple.

The trick to keeping things under control is to decide in advance what you want to splurge on and then stick to your plan, DeMotte said.

“If you want a corn dog, go ahead,” she said. “But top it off with some fresh fruit for dessert.”

Even a casual inspection of the fair’s food booths confirms that the fry basket clearly is still the cooking method of choice. But steamers are starting to pop up here and there.

Cary Chang, 52, of West Covina is selling fresh green salads and pasta with garden vegetables for a second year. Chang and his wife, Carol, 47, said they decided to go with an alternative to the grease pit just so they would stand out.

“Most people say our food is the healthiest,” Chang said. “The exhibitors will eat dogs and hamburgers for a few days, but after that, they come to us. They say they’re sick of the greasy stuff.”

Just in case they aren’t too sick, Chang also offers Cheesy Bacon Pasta for $3.50.

Switching to fresh, low-fat food was not an option for Connie Barrozo, 37, a clerk in the fair’s admissions office. Her doctor told her to cut out all cholesterol eight weeks ago or risk suffering a heart attack, Barrozo said.

On Thursday, she visited Terri’s Berries and Fresh Produce twice to buy a plum for 75 cents. The stand also offers apples, peaches, grapes, bananas, nectarines and berries delivered fresh daily, said Richard Bray, a partner in the stand.

Barrozo said she was worried about what she could eat until she saw the fruit booth on her first day of fair work.

“I saw it and went, ‘Wow! There’s something I can eat,’ ” she said.

But for every nutrition-conscious fair-goer, there are 10 more who just want to load on as much sugar, salt and fat as they can get.

Paul and Phyllis Everton of Ventura admit that they never consider calories or cholesterol when they make their annual trek to the fair.

“We don’t come to the fair to diet,” said Phyllis, licking the last drops of a double-scoop ice cream. “We come mainly to eat.”

* RELATED STORY, FAIR SCHEDULE: B2

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Getting to the Fair

Departure and arrival times for Metrolink trains to the Ventura County Fair on Saturday, Sunday, and Aug. 26 and 27. Fares are $6 round-trip from Simi Valley and Moorpark, and $4 round-trip from Camarillo and Oxnard. All stations and trains are wheelchair-accessible. For information, call (800) 438-1112.

Northbound

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Simi Valley 9:30 a.m. 10:25 a.m. 11:57 p.m. 1:10 p.m. 3:55 p.m. Moorpark 9:47 a.m. 10:42 a.m. 12:14 p.m. 1:27 p.m. 4:12 p.m. Camarillo 10:01 a.m. 10:56 a.m. 12:28 p.m. 1:41 p.m. 4:26 p.m. Oxnard 10:15 a.m. 11:10 a.m. 12:42 p.m. 1:55 p.m. 4:40 p.m. Ventura 10:30 a.m. 11:25 a.m. 12:57 p.m. 2:10 p.m. 4:55 p.m.

Simi Valley 8:05 p.m. Moorpark 8:22 p.m. Camarillo ----* Oxnard 8:50 p.m. Ventura 9:05 p.m.

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Southbound

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Ventura 10:36 a.m. 11:31 a.m. 2:33 p.m. 5:10 p.m. 6:50 p.m. Oxnard ---- 11:58 a.m. 2:47 p.m. 5:24 p.m. 7:04 p.m. Camarillo ---- ---- ----* 5:55 p.m. 7:16 p.m. Moorpark ---- 12:48 p.m. 3:10 p.m. 6:06 p.m. 7:27 p.m. Simi Valley 11:51 a.m. 1:03 p.m. 3:25 p.m. 6:21 p.m. 7:42 p.m.

Ventura 10:15 p.m. Oxnard 10:29 p.m. Camarillo 10:41 p.m. Moorpark 10:52 p.m. Simi Valley 11:07 p.m.

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* Weekend Amtrak schedules do not permit these trains from stopping in Camarillo.

Source: Metrolink