"For me, food is very much about relationships"

Towe Johnson is a project co-worker in Enhancing Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas through Local Food Systems. She is also working for the project GREN at Torsta AB. Here she talks about her experience from the projects and what she brings with her into her new position.

Tell us about your work in the project Enhancing Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas through Local Food Systems.

In the project, I have helped to produce documentation and shaped the questionnaire that we have sent out to food producers. I have also collected the answers, analyzed and compiled them. In parallel, I have interviewed actors in independent schools in Jämtland and Västernorrland about their meal activities and their conditions for being part of the local food system.

What do you take with you from your time in the project?

It has been very exciting to work with the conditions of rural businesses in the county and their role in the local food system – both what it looks like today and what it could look like. I also bring with me how we can support the development of entrepreneurship in rural areas with new knowledge for increased sustainable food production in the county. The mapping we have done in the project is important to get an updated picture of what it looks like, what strengths, weaknesses and opportunities exist.

The importance of an interdisciplinary perspective is also an important part I take with me. Food production is not an isolated island, but it concerns many different issues and areas, and therefore a holistic perspective is needed in the issue. It has also been very rewarding and inspiring with our international collaborations in the project as it provides additional angles, including an opportunity to put the global in a local context. Working in the project has also meant that I have had to put on a different hat, as I myself run a farm together with my parents. Since I'm a producer, it's been instructive and interesting to see things from a different perspective. The project also felt very relevant and valuable because it is so close to my reality.

Now you are also working in parallel in a project at Torsta AB. Tell us about it.

Yes, exactly. During the spring, I have also started working in a project at Torsta called GREN – Green Regional Ecosystem for Strengthened Business. It started at the turn of the year and focuses on innovation, collaboration and the role of green industries in the regional economy. It is part of the work that Torsta does for rural development on behalf of Region Jämtland Härjedalen, so I belong to the rural development unit and collaborate with other rural developers.

Torsta is like a knowledge cluster for green industries, and that is a great advantage when we are going to work so much with regional collaboration in the project. There are many people working on issues relating to the green industries, and instead of everyone working separately, we want to find methods for how we can collaborate more. We therefore hope to develop meeting places and forums for stakeholders in the county that can help us to future-proof the industries. That's what attracts me to the project – to work with collaboration, which is so important. Something I take with me from the Enhancing Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas through Local Food Systems project is that meeting places are really appreciated and engaging. Our workshops, where we gathered different actors, are an example of a meeting place that was very much appreciated.

What opportunities do you see for collaboration between Mid Sweden University and Torsta?

I see it as obvious to cooperate because Mid Sweden University is such an important player in the county. Both projects can enrich each other incredibly much with different perspectives. The university's role in contributing current knowledge fulfils an important function and working for regional collaboration is a goal that the university and Torsta have in common.

What is it that makes you passionate about working with issues related to food production?

I have a great interest in sustainable food production and rural issues. And fundamentally, I think that interest comes from food. For me, food is very much about relationships – the relationship with the place where the food is produced, with the person who produces the food, with nature, with the cook and with the person who eats. It's also about the social and cultural relationships that are created around food and by meals, and that's where rurality, community development and cultural geography also come in.

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