Iowa - "The Hawkeye State"

Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States, a region sometimes called the "American Heartland". Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west; it is the only U.S. state whose eastern and western borders are formed entirely by rivers. Iowa is bordered by Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the west and north, and Minnesota to the north. In colonial times, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana; its current state flag is patterned after the flag of France. Its capital and largest city is Des Moines.

Manufacturing, agriculture and food processing have been major components of Iowa economy. Besides processed food, industrial outputs include machinery, electric equipment, chemical products, and primary metals. Companies with direct or indirect processing facilities in Iowa include ConAgra Foods, Wells Blue Bunny, Barilla, Heinz, Tone's Spices, General Mills, and Quaker Oats. Meatpacker Tyson Foods has 11 locations, second only to its headquarter state Arkansas. 

An interesting point of attraction in state of Iowa is the city of Strawberry Point. This small city with a population close to 1500 people, is the technical champion of the World's Largest Strawberry title. The 15-ft. tall painted sculpture is on a post in front of City Hall. It's fiberglass, designed by a local ad agency, and was dedicated in the late 1960s.

Iowa is well know for a few signature dishes. The cuisine of Iowa includes the pork tenderloin sandwich, consisting of a lean section of boneless pork loin that is pounded flat, breaded, and deep fried before being served on a seeded hamburger bun with any or all of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and dill pickle slices.
Iowa is also the center for loose-meat sandwiches, also called tavern sandwiches and appearing on many menus by each restaurant's unique name for them. They were popularized by Maid-Rite which now has franchises in other mid-western states. This sandwich is a ground beef simmered with onions and seasonings until the liquid cooks away, served in a bun with pickles and maybe a little mustard or ketchup. Where one can find this sandwich in state of AZ? That would be Iowa Café in Mesa, AZ. Iowa café offers home-made Iowa cooking including but not limited to Breaded Pork Tenderloin, Loose Meat Sandwich, Midwest Steerburgers, Meatloaf, Four-Egg Omelets and other favorites. It is indeed a friendly atmosphere with good service and reasonable price.