2026 Theme: Bird Friendly Farming
With the help of our sponsors, Renewing the Countryside's 2026 Eco Experience Exhibit explores how agricultural land management can support and enhance habitat for native Minnesota birds.
For 20 years, Renewing the Countryside has brought engaging sustainable food and farming education to the Minnesota State Fair Eco Experience, inspiring more than 200,000 fairgoers each year. This year’s Bird Friendly Farming exhibit highlights how thoughtful agricultural practices can restore and protect vital habitat for Minnesota’s native farmland birds—from Western Meadowlarks and Greater Prairie-Chickens to migratory songbirds that depend on healthy prairies, wetlands, and working lands. Through interactive exhibits, local food tastings, chef demonstrations, and family-friendly activities, visitors will discover how practices like cover cropping, pasture management, riparian buffers, and shelter belts support biodiversity, strengthen resilient food systems, and create healthier communities. Featuring farmers, conservationists, and organizations leading this important work, Renewing the Countryside’s 2026 exhibit celebrates the powerful connection between sustainable agriculture and thriving bird habitat across Minnesota.
See the full 2026 schedule below and join us this year at the MN State Fair!
Volunteer with us at the Fair!
Volunteer at the Eco Experience building with Renewing the Countryside and get a FREE admittance ticket to the MN State Fair for the day you volunteer and a FREE limited-edition ‘local food’ organic cotton t-shirt!
RTC has been providing programming at the MN State Fair's in the Eco Experience Building for over 20 years, and we could not do it without all of you who volunteer. Whether it’s handing out samples of dishes from our featured chefs, facilitating engaging activities celebrating MN-grown produce, or lending a hand with food prep, volunteering at the Fair is a rewarding experience that helps to connect fairgoers with vital information about supporting local food systems and a more resilient future.
Volunteers get perks, like an admittance ticket to the Fair for the day they volunteer and an RTC limited-edition ‘local food’ organic cotton t-shirt!
Volunteer shifts are an average of three hours and are available every day of the Fair, Aug. 27th - Sept. 7th, from 9am to 7:30pm.
Daily Schedule Overview
- 8 a.m.-8 p.m. — Bird Friendly Farming exhibit, local food-themed kids activities and more!
- 11 a.m.-3 p.m. — RTC’s FEAST! farmers and food-makers will sample their newest and most celebrated local food products
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11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. — Celebrated chefs, food-makers and cooks from across Minnesota will demonstrate how to make their favorite recipes using local Minnesotan ingredients, sharing samples and stories
2026 Cooking Demonstration Schedule
All demos take place at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.Thursday, August 27 Patrice Johnson Chef and Cookbook Author of Land of 10,000 Plates: Stories and recipes from Minnesota (2020) Friday, August 28 COMING SOON! Saturday, August 29 COMING SOON! Sunday, August 30 COMING SOON! Monday, August 31 COMING SOON! Tuesday, September 1 COMING SOON! Wednesday, September 2 COMING SOON! Thursday, September 3 COMING SOON! Friday, September 4 COMING SOON! Saturday, September 5 COMING SOON! Sunday, September 6 COMING SOON! Monday, September 7 COMING SOON! 2026 Schedule of Sampler Partners
Every Day: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sample Partner One Sample Partner Two COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Friday, August 28
COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Saturday, August 29 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Sunday, August 30 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Monday, August 31 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Tuesday, September 1 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Wednesday, September 2 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Thursday, September 3 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Friday, September 4 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Saturday, September 5 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Sunday, September 6 COMING SOON! COMING SOON! Monday, September 7 COMING SOON! COMING SOON!
2025 Theme: Plant Protein Power!
With help from our sponsors—the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, Seven Sundays, SunOpta, The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance, The Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), and the Plant Based Foods Association—Renewing the Countryside's 2025 Eco Experience Exhibit was centered on the power of sustainable plant based proteins and the farmers that grow them.
Proteins are an essential building block for everyday life. Finding and identifying sustainable meat based proteins can be as simple as looking for labels like "100% grass fed", but how many of us know how our black beans or edamame are grown? And once we identify sustainably grown, local plant-based proteins, how do we incorporate them into our daily recipes?
Renewing the Countryside's Plant Protein Power! interactive exhibit offered a special look at some of Minnesota’s bounty: beans, specialty grains and seeds, tree nuts, mushrooms, and their role in the ever-more-inventive landscape of plant-based food.
Stories, photography, hands-on demonstrations, and of course delicious samples, got visitors of all ages interested to learn: How can soybeans turn into a silky block of tofu, oats make for a smooth and creamy latte, or peas become the secret behind those uncannily meaty plant-based burgers?
Discover how Minnesota is bridging agricultural tradition with the future of sustainable, plant-rich eating.
| Agroforestry Exhib |
RTC's Past Eco Experience Exhibits
2024 Summary Report and Agroforestry Display
2023 Summary Report and Farmland Access Display
2021 Summary Report and Climate Change display
2019 Summary Report and Artisan Grain Exhibition display
2018 Summary Report and Best If Used exhibit display
2017 Summary Report and Organic exhibit display
2016 Summary Report and Forever Green exhibit display
2015 Summary Report and AGRIculture exhibit display
2014 Summary Report and Grow A Farmer Overview
Gallery of past exhibits: see photos of the 2015 and 2016 Local Food Exhibits here
Favorite fair recipes from our Chef Demonstrations here