MN State Fair: Corn Dog Cognitive Dissonance

The very last day of The Minnesota State Fair is Labor Day. After that, we have to wait another whole year before the next 12 day rip-off — Thank God.

Look, I like chocolate chip cookies just as much as the next guy…but not at those prices. I just can’t see spending $20 for a little plastic pail from Sweet Martha’s cookies at this fair. Especially when these melt-in-your-mouth treats only have a life span of 24 hours. After that, they calcify into inedible concrete-like pellets.

Come to think of it, those cookies are a real bargain when you consider a bucket of cheese curds now costs (gasp) $22. Scary but true.

Welcome to “The Great Minnesota Get-Together,” where even one afternoon of munching on Tater Tots, Pronto Pups, and deep-fried Rolaids can drain your checking account dry.

It used to be whenever people would ask me if I was going to the State Fair, I’d reply, “No thanks, I don’t want to take out a second mortgage on my house.”

They used to laugh at that little quip. Not anymore. Now they sigh ruefully and look away as they describe how they saved up all year just to spend one day at the fair. Or how they took out $200 from the ATM and still worried that it wouldn’t be enough to pay for parking, admission, and myriad fair food.

Trust me, it wouldn’t. Not anymore.

Some professor from The College of St. Thomas actually did research about fair pricing and found inflation there was double the rate outside the fairgrounds.

Thanks for the scholarly verification, but things at this fair have always been more expensive than anything ever was outside the fairgrounds. What’s so surprising — and beyond weird — is how cheerfully and how eagerly fairgoers have been willing to pay such exorbitant prices for nearly anything and everything.

Therein lies the cognitive dissonance.

If you fell asleep in Psych 101 or don’t want to do any research about it now, here’s a definition from the Internet(AI Overview):
“Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort felt when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.”

In other words, it happens when your beliefs contradict your behaviors. The classic example used to explain this condition has to do with smoking cigarettes.

For more than a half-century, numerous reputable studies have confirmed that smoking cigarettes is not only hazardous to your health but can literally kill you! Smoking causes cancers, heart problems, liver disease, etc,. etc., etc. So smokers KNOW how dangerous smoking can be. They literally KNOW about all the bad things it can do to their bodies. And yet, they just keep puffin’ and coughin’ away.

If you’re reading this and you’re a smoker, you’re probably thinking, “Oh, that reminds me. I could really use a cigarette break now.’’

If you’re reading this and you’re at the State Fair, though, you’re probably going to keep stuffing your face with foods you KNOW are overpriced and full of more sugars, salts, and calories than your body could possibly handle in a single day. You KNOW this, but you keep chowing it all down.

Welcome to the realm of cognitive dissonance.

Consider the Chocolate-Covered Nut Roll — on a stick, of course — that’s only available at the fair. It’s merely a little caramel rectangle rolled in nuts and smothered in dark chocolate. Sounds delicious but also looks like a chunky tiny turd impaled on a stick — and it costs $9!

Come on, you KNOW that’s way too expensive to pay for a snack, even a “hand-crafted” one, even one with “high-quality nuts.”

You KNOW all the reasons you shouldn’t purchase and consume this glorified candy bar, but you do it anyway. That’s what I call Corn Dog Cognitive Dissonance at the MN State Fair, even if no Corn Dog (or Pronto Pup) is directly involved.

Because we live in a democracy, you can spend — or waste — your own money in any way you choose. That choice might involve paying hard-earned money for smaller and overpriced items on a stick. But go ahead. Stuff your face. It’s your money. It’s your face. It’s your digestive system.

I don’t care how anyone spends his or her own money at the fair; and yet, I can’t help but recall those angry cries of “Food on the table! We can’t even afford food on the table now!” that accompanied the 2024 Presidential election. One reason so many Americans voted for Trump was that he promised to bring food prices(along with other costs) down to affordable levels. Then he got elected again to the Presidency, but food prices didn’t go down. In fact, the cost of many foods continued to rise.

So am I claiming that the same people who whined and raged over soaring food prices are also okay with paying $9 for turd-like candy on a stick?

Well yeah. That’s my theory, anyway.

I believe all the people who grumbled the loudest about rising food prices also couldn’t wait to cheerfully pay soaring prices to eat at the MN State Fair. And now these same disgruntled consumers can hardly wait to return to this overpriced food lot in 2026.

Bon appétit, my fellow American foodies. Just be careful that all that fair food isn’t just affecting your brain cells too much.