Eating Healthy at the Calgary Stampede!

It’s that time of year again – the Calgary Stampede is in town, and we are ringing in its 100th birthday this year! Along with the chuckwagon races, bull riding, barrel racing, and other rodeo events, there’s a huge fairgrounds set up at Stampede Park, with an ever growing list of crazy food choices to satisfy any craving. I thought I’d go looking to see if there are any healthy(ish) choices amongst the new snacks available this year. Here’s my review of some of the highlights:

Beef Bacon Sandwiches: Touted on the website as ‘Bacon that’s healthy!’ Hmm. Beef bacon has only 10% less calories than pork bacon. Guess again.
Naaco Bits: Butter chicken sausage, battered and deep fried. ‘Nuf said!
Esquites: Warm corn salad in a cup. I’m interested in this one. It could be OK, depending on what they use for the sauce – if there’s a lot of oil, the calorie count could be high. Consider eating half (share!), as corn is not a FreeVeg – it contains a lot of sugar and should therefore be considered to be a carb.
Tempura Coated Deep Fried Vegetables… well… I like the ‘vegetables’ part!
Saltspring Island Noodle Stirfry – ‘A healthy gourmet noodle box cooked with fresh veggies, chicken or shrimp, and no oil!’ Now THIS one has potential – I’ll be asking for nutritional information on this one when I’m at the midway.
Loukomathes (Greek Honey Puffs) (pictured above) – looks like a variation of the mini donut with a fancy name….
Deep Fried Kool Aid – really?? How do they even do that??

The Bottom Line: It’s tough to eat healthy at the Stampede midway, but there are a couple of contenders that rise above the rest. For many people, the food is a big part of the fun and excitement of going to the Stampede. My suggestion is to enjoy in moderation: consider picking one or two treats, and practice portion control by sharing with friends!!

Happy Stampeding!