Seeds of positive food futures
Through crisis comes creativity, as is the case also with the Covid-19 pandemic. When businesses and organizations were forced and challenged to find new ways and ideas, ‘seeds’ were planted. In this post we present some of the positive seeds we have seen sprout during and due to the pandemic.
This post will be updated throughout the project as other seeds emerge. If you know of one, please contact us — jenny.norrby@su.se — and we will make sure to add it.
- GARANT plant based ready meals
Seed: GARANT plant based meals made of minced legumes — Lasagne, Bolognese and Taco.
When the Covid pandemic broke out in Sweden, one of the bigger hotel chains was in the process of replacing its meat in hamburgers with minced legumes. The project was a collaboration with Axfoundation and their experimental garden, Torsåker gård, that had developed the product. But as customer cancellations came due to Covid, the hotel chain had to cancel the order of the minced legumes. The legumes were already produced and the processors were ready to refine them. Axfoundation had to look for other alternatives and found a solution together with GARANT. In only six weeks they launched three ready made food alternatives, a process that would normally take about 1,5 years. The meals were only sold for a limited time but the minced legumes lives on through ‘Färsodlarna’.
This seed contributed to making vegetarian options more accessible to consumers and in a way that they can relate to: three popular Swedish dishes. It contributed positively by increasing the consumption of plant based food and by presenting the consumers with a new plant based protein alternative.
Link for more information (in Swedish)
https://www.livsmedelsnyheter.se/garant-lanserar-tre-ratter-baserade-pa-svensk-baljvaxtfars/
2. Huvudsta Trädgård ‘Zero waste garden’
Seed: Huvudsta Trädgård — A sustainable urban ‘Zero waste garden’
At the beginning of March 2020, the founder of Foodloopz initiated a project to build a garden in connection to Huvudsta gård in Solna outside Stockholm. Initially, the plan was to use the garden as a hobby but the project quickly grew bigger. When Covid hit, other projects that Foodloopz were involved in were canceled and more time could be spent on work in the garden. That, in combination with the fact that volunteers got in touch, who for various reasons wanted to spend their time doing something useful, made the project accelerate quickly and is now engaging many actors in the area.
Huvudsta trädgård is a so-called ‘Zero waste garden’ where waste from different actors in the municipality is used to create circularity. It contributes positively by making use of otherwise wasted resources, such as broken bags with planting soil from a nearby plant shop and food waste from a local supermarket, to grow vegetables that are sold to local restaurants and citizens and by engaging various actors in contributing to sustainable practices.
Link for more information (in Swedish):
3. Felix ‘The Climate Store’
Seed: The Climate Store — supermarket pricing food based on carbon footprint
The Climate Store by Felix was initially a two days pop-up store that priced food based on carbon emissions. Customers who visited the store got a limited ‘emissions voucher’ to use when shopping for food. Suddenly carbon intensive food products became very expensive and those with low emissions across the supply chain got cheaper. The store opened in October 2021 just as Sweden introduced stricter Covid-19 related restrictions which affected the number of visitors that could enter the store. It got a lot of interest and media attention and due to the pandemic a digital version of the store was created which is still accessible today. It has become a permanent part of Felix work around sustainability.
The Climate Store raises the discussion on value and pricing of food. During the crisis, increased interest in local and sustainably sourced food increased amongst customers. Coupling pricing and environmental footprint helps customers to make better food choices.
Link for more information (in Swedish):
4. Sopköket supportive meals
Seed: Sopköket supportive meals that help those in need.
In the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020, Sopköket started an initiative where people and businesses could buy meals to support those who were hardest hit by the pandemic (incl. elderly, homeless, single parents and newly arrived). In collaboration with the Red Cross, the Katarina and Västermalm congregations, The Stockholm mosque and the hostel Gustaf af Klint, they have given away about 1350 meals to date.
Sopköket uses food that otherwise would go to waste and thereby tackles the problem of food waste. The initiative also ensures that these individuals get good food, it contributes to building networks and provides a way for people to contribute.
Link for more information (in Swedish):
5. Lidl ‘Grönsaksparadoxen’
Seed: Lidl ‘The vegetable paradox’ (Grönsaksparadoxen)
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many initiatives were initiated to help smaller food producers and businesses to get their products out on the market. Lidl was one of the supermarket chains that increased the amount of local fruits and vegetables in the store. The vegetable paradox challenges the fact that local products often are more expensive by offering local fruits and vegetables at a lower price. They achieve this by for example reducing intermediaries and using more efficient transportation.
The seed contributes to increasing the intake of local fruit and vegetables amongst the population, by making it more accessible. It also helps strengthen local food systems in Sweden.
Links for more information (in Swedish):
6. Angereds gård — increased interest in local vegetables
Seed: Angereds gård — small scale and organic cultivation of vegetables
Angered’s farm is a regenerative farm on the outskirts of Gothenburg with a small scale and organic cultivation of vegetables. Cultivation courses for adults are also being held on the farm, which are accessible and close to the city. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Angereds Gård experienced an increased interest from citizens wanting to lend a lot on the farm to cultivate their own vegetables. Also, an increased number of schools in the area expressed their interest in buying fresh, local vegetables from the farm.
The seed has a positive contribution by spreading knowledge and offering local products. They provide fresh and organic vegetables to the local school kitchens and by educating adults they are also contributing to building knowledge amongst citizens on cultivation. Angereds Gård also emphasizes the importance of new ways of calculating and reporting different parameters on small organic farms, such as working hours, food produced, food quality and environmental benefits such as improved soil quality.
Links for more information (in Swedish):
https://stadsnaraodling.goteborg.se/modellodling-pa-angereds-gard/
https://www.vgregion.se/f/naturbruk/nyheter/modellodlingen-pa-angereds-gard-/
The text is is a part of the Rapid Transition Lab, a collaboration between Stockholm Resilience Center, Dark Matter Labs, and Vinnova, which you can read more about here.
