Welcome to New Nordic Food’s newsletter
October 2009
New Nordic Food’s newsletter will be published monthly with news from the projects, from the New Nordic Food ambassadors and the steering committee, and from partners and interested parties. The newsletter also helps to form networks in the growing group of people interested in promoting Nordic food and Nordic produce.
Winner of the Honorary Diploma 2009
The candidate from Greenland, Hotel Arctic at Illulissat Ice Fjord has won the Honorary Diploma 2009. For many years, the restaurant has integrated Inuit art and culture to create a total experience. The restaurant's menus feature local ingredients and the interior decor is furnished with Nordic design and paintings by Inuit artists. There is often Inuit music, dance and other performances at the hotel's many events. In conjunction with the celebration of its 25th anniversary, the hotel welcomes master chef Jeppe Ejvind Nielsen as the new chef. www.hotel-arctic.gl
Food culture and design
The theme of this year's Honorary Diploma was culture and design associated with food and food culture. The candidates were companies, organisations or people who have made a special contribution to the promotion, development and visibility of the values and potential inherent in Nordic food and cuisine, with emphasis on culture and design. In the near future New Nordic Food will publish articles on the candidates and, in particular, on the winner, Hotel Arctic in Greenland. www.nynordiskmad.org
Other News:
Nordic material from Russia
NORDGEN: NordGen and the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) have established a platform for co-operation and exchange of knowledge and plant materials. Collecting Nordic material in the Vavilov Institute's databases and hand-written catalogues began in 2000. This has revealed, amongst other things, a number of interesting cases from the early 20th century. In addition to the duplicates of unique material already found in NordGen's gene bank on barley and oats, more work is being done with several crops which will be examined and analysed. www.nordgen.org
Handbook on the provision of meals in the public sector
FINLAND: The handbook series for the promotion of locally produced food in the public sector has been published in a new, extended form. The books are financed by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which notes that nearly all Finns in one way or another are customers of the public sector food service from day care centres and schools to work places and care for the elderly. It is a challenge to provide and ensure the safety of food in the public sector, so it is all about local production and quality. The new books aim to help with this. In Finnish www.ruokasuomi.fi – or in Swedish www.sre.fi
Competition on climate and ecology
SWEDEN: Competiveness in the European food industry was the theme when the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the EU Commission and the Swedish EU Presidency hosted a conference in Malmø in October. Food quality and consumers' wishes were discussed. Locally produced, organic and climate-friendly have become important concepts for quality in the food industry and are important in competition between food companies. At the same time Malmø introduced its annual trade fair, Älska Mat (Love Food). www.alskamat.se
Taste the Art
DENMARK: Taste the Art is the title of a five-day Nordic food art festival in Musikhuset in Århus from 4 to 8 November. Gastronomes from the entire Nordic Region will meet musicians, dancers, craftsmen and visual artists. These will be sense-stimulating days where gastronomy and art meet. The event is organised by Taste Århus, who promise a journey into the gastronomic world map with colours, good smells and taste sensations. www.smagpaakunsten.dk
Oats and health
FINLAND: To celebrate the oat days 2009 the Finnish Oat Association, Suomen Kaurayhdistys, organised a seminar in Helsinki. The seminar 'Versatile oats" was held in the Science House on Thursday 29 October. This put focus on oats as a healthy and curative food, and there was practical work with oats. The day concluded with a panel discussion on the opportunities for oats in the future. Read www.vyr.fi in Finnish.
Preservation of indigenous domestic animals
DENMARK: There is now an action plan for the preservation of old species of Danish domestic animals. The plan will focus on making progress amongst species of domestic animals threatened with extinction up to 2012, amongst other things, with contingency plans and the enlargement of the gene bank. The Chairperson, Vice Director Marie Louise Klenow, and the rest of the committee will hold an open meeting on 14 November to present the strategy at the Danish Agricultural Museum. You can also learn to cook food ‘the way Granny did’. www.gl-estrup.dk
Open for small amounts of wild boar meat
SWEDEN: The Swedish National Food Administration has proposed to the government that hunters should be allowed to sell small amounts of wild boar meat directly to consumers, local restaurants and shops without the meat having to go through game handling establishments. The reason for this is that the wild boar population in Sweden has increased considerably. The National Food Administration proposes that a number of people be specially trained to carry out the necessary tests for trichina. http://www.slv.se/upload/dokument/remisser/Regeringsuppdrag_2009/Redovisning_regeringsuppdrag_vildsvin.pdf in Swedish.
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