UNITY – Several years ago, Yu Chunlin, a student from Taiwan, went to the Common Ground Country Fair with his school mates. He was enthralled.

“This is what America means to me. This vision of working cooperatively, taking care of the Earth and each other, pure, clean ingredients and products – this is America,” he said in a recent phone conversation.

Now serving in Taiwan’s army, a difficult if not punishing experience, Huang said he holds dear the feeling the Common Ground Country Fair brought to him.

“It was a beautiful fall day. I remember the skies were so blue and everyone was laughing. Everyone was laughing,” he said.

The Common Ground fair experience may not be as profound for others as it was for Huang, but there is no denying that the once “alternative” fair has flowed fully into the mainstream.

Often called the alternative fair because of its lack of a midway, fast foods or games of chance, Common Ground has always exhibited cutting-edge options for sustainable living. As more people seek these alternatives, they become more mainstream.

“Outsider” issues – global warming, the environment, local food and sustainable agriculture, alternative energy and pure lifestyle – are on the tips of everyone’s tongues these days and fair organizers expect the best attendance ever at this year’s 32nd annual fair Sept. 19-21. As many as 60,000 people attend the fair on average each year.

“As we gather this fall we have much to celebrate,” fair director Jim Ahearne said recently. “The number of farms in Maine producing and selling organic fruits, vegetables and livestock is growing, as is the number of consumers.

“Maine is now home to 287 certified organic commercial farms and over 75 farmers markets, 35 percent more farmers markets than five years ago. Plus, 4,000 households in Maine are investing directly in their year-round local food supply via Community Supported Agriculture and [Community Supported] Fishery shares with local farmers and fishers.”

Ahearne said it also appears that Mainers are growing more of their own food this year than in the recent past, if seed sales are any indication.

“At the Common Ground fair, we celebrate all this and more,” he said.

Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the fair’s sponsor, recently said that as the economy moves into a downturn, people are looking at individual solutions.

“In the end, these decisions don’t really make a large amount of difference,” he said in his annual fall address. “What will make a difference is how we act, day to day, in our communities.

“The Common Ground fair shows what is possible at many levels. First, over 1,000 volunteers come together to make the fair happen. … At another level, by making connections with vendors, fair-goers support many Maine businesses. Finally, by making connections with some of the many thousands of people who attend the fair, you can learn skills or solve problems in a way that is hard to do in other places in Maine,” Libby said.

He said it is important to take these conversations beyond the fair, especially as a hard, economically strapped winter descends.

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At the fair:

UNITY – The Fair is set for Thursday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 21. The fair opens at 9 a.m. each day. The fair’s exhibits fan out around the center common green and include agricultural areas, children’s area, recycling, kitchen, country store, crafts, energy and shelter, entertainment, livestock, environmental concerns, social and political issues, folk arts, fleece show and sale, health and healing, Native American area, and Maine Marketplace. Dozens of food vendors provide all-Maine bounty. There is also a daily farmers’ market at the west or “Rose” gate.

On Friday, Sept. 19, keynote speaker John Bunker will address the crowds. Bunker, is an orchard expert and his topic is “Out on a Limb.” Also on Thursday, look for folk arts demonstrations and classes such as spinning, animal husbandry, native American games, felting, Passamaquoddy bead work, and braiding sock rugs.

There will also be livestock exhibits and demonstrations, cooking and food classes, farming and soil discussions.

On Saturday, Sept. 20, Jeffrey Smith will be the keynote speaker. Smith is an international spokesman against genetically modifeid organisms. He is the author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette and the syndicated columnist of Spilling The Beans.

Other events include organic livestock management, growing grapes in Maine, urban community food systems, heart-centered living, basics of home composting and new state regulations.

On Sunday, Sept. 21, Gary Paul Nabhan will be the keynote speaker. Nabhan is a leading voice for conserving native plant agriculture. He is the author of 20 books and the winner of a MacArthur Fellowship.

Other events include health care coverage discussions, scything, growing peaches, sheep dog demonstrations, forestry plans, felting, homeopathy, and herbal skin care.

Throughout the fair, a wide variety of entertainment is offered including a fiddler’s showcase at 11 a.m. Sunday. Others are Jason Spooner Band, Zulu Leprechauns, contradancing, Luke Kallock, Boondock Blues Band, Greenfields, King Pirogi, the Gawler Family, Leah Wolfson, and Ladies of the Lake, among many others.

For a full schedule of events, their locations and times, go to www.mofga.org.