Borlaug honored with butter sculpture at Iowa State Fair

Iowa artist Sarah Pratt works on the butter sculpture of Norman Borlaug at the Iowa State Fair

 

August 6, 2008 - The Nobel Peace Prize. The Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Congressional Gold Medal. A butter sculpture?

World Food Prize founder Dr. Norman Borlaug has received yet another tribute, this time in the form of a sculpture made of butter.

Since the early 1900s, the Iowa State Fair has featured a butter cow made of over 600 pounds of pure cream Iowa butter. In subsequent years, butter sculptures of celebrities joined the cow in its 40 degree cooler in the Fair's Agriculture Building. John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Tiger Woods, Harry Potter and a recreation of The Last Supper are just some of the likenesses that have been sculpted in butter.

At the 2008 Iowa State Fair, Dr. Borlaug's sculpture joins those of Henry A. Wallace, George Washington Carver and Etta May Budd in what the Fair is billing as "a tribute to four Iowans who helped change the face of the world’s agriculture."

In addition, the Iowa State Fair will also feature a butter sculpture of Iowa olympian gymnast Shawn Johnson and, of course, the world famous butter cow.

More than a million visitors from around the globe visit the Iowa State Fair each year. The 2008 Iowa State Fair runs from August 7 - 17. More information is available at iowastatefair.org.

 

 

 

Friday, Aug 8 - Sarah Pratt works on finishing the Borlaug sculpture	Friday, Aug 8 - An in-progress Borlaug sits in front of Henry A. Wallace	Sunday, Aug 10 - A nearly-finished Borlaug seen with the butter cow	Sunday, Aug 10 - Sarah Pratt puts the finishing touches on Norman Borlaug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The History of the Butter Cow