Butter Busts: At the Minnesota State Fair this week, one lucky gal will be crowned the Midwest Dairy Association’s “Princess Kay of the Milky Way.” Along with that honor comes a new kind of solid, golden trophy: The winner will have her likeness carved in a 90 lb. block of butter and get to take it home. Someone page Paula. [Wall Street Journal via @grubstreet]

Texas-Fried Beer: Speaking of state fairs, Texas’ is catching some buzz for their from-the-fryer beer and frozen margaritas, which sound perfect for washing down the competition: Deep-Fried S’mores Pop Tarts, Fried Frito Pie, and the classed-up Fried Caviar. [Slashfood]

Get Hip to Carrot Sticks: Just in time for the back-to-school snack season, baby carrots are getting their fun-factor upped in a big way. Carrot growers have teamed to announce the industry’s first marketing campaign, one that positions them against snack-food giants. Among the plans are billboards calling the veggie sticks “the original orange doodles” and kooky seasonal tie-ins, like Halloween-time “scarrots” packaging. [USA Today via Eatocracy]

A Stab of Bacon: A Wendy’s employee in West Hartford, CT has been charged with second-degree assault after pulling a knife on a coworker. The gripe? Sub-par cured pork. “According to [the perp], his purposes were altruistic,” a police official said. “He wanted the public to get good bacon.” [Consumerist]

Diving for Dinner: Diners in Brooklyn, NY are taking to dumpsters to find fresh ingredients. The food-scavenging collective, called Grub, meet bi-monthly to prepare a communal meal made from goods waiting to be tossed. “It’s a way to feed a lot of people for free,” one dumpster diver told the Times. “And it’s a way to raise awareness of the way food is wasted.” [New York Times]

Here’s our round-up of food news, trends and happenings across the web. Check back for more, and tell us what else you’re loving in the comments.