Food crafts, cheese making and relationship food: Study visit to Östersund and the surrounding area

Torsta AB

The project team on study visit to Torsta AB.

The team visited Torsta AB, a knowledge center for the green industries, in Ås, outside Östersund in Jämtland. Torsta has an agricultural upper secondary school and a farm, restaurant and conference facilities and a department for rural development. Marie Sjölin, Head of Rural Development at Torsta showed us around and talked about the business.

Marie thinks that the main challenge to develop when it comes to small and medium-sized companies operating in the food system in Jämtland and Sweden, are the cost increases that have been. The prices of inputs and labour supply are another important element.

- Perhaps the most important thing I would say is the general picture of the food system. There are a lot of people who think very much and often it is they who may know very little about what the production looks like. So I think that's the important thing; to learn more and value the food production we actually have, says Marie.

Eldrimner

The project team also visited Eldrimner – National Resource Center for Food Crafts which, like Torsta AB, is located in Ås. The project group was shown around and got to visit Osterian af Jemtland, which is run by Ingela Mårtensson. Aksel Ydrén, who is responsible for fish processing at Eldrimner, was the guide and talked about the business.

- Here we are about 25 people who work to highlight food craftsmanship in different ways. And food crafts are small-scale food products. These include small-scale cheeses, bakeries, berries, fruit and vegetable processing, fish processing and fermented beverages, for example," says Aksel.

At Eldrimner, they work with courses, a large product competition, educational materials, magazines and films to highlight both food crafts and food artisans. And Aksel is optimistic about Eldrimner's future and development.

- We know that we need to change our food system, that the current one is not sustainable. The large-scale system creates many problems, and in contrast, there is food craftsmanship that creates local jobs, contributes to greater biodiversity and has a small ecological footprint. So we need food crafts in the future and we need food artisans, he reasons.

Skärvångens village dairy

The next stop was Skärvångens village dairy. There, Patrik Östlund, Sales Region North, and Kim Håkansson, Administration and Marketing Manager, showed us around. The dairy started in 1999 with the idea of farming in Skärvången and keeping the district's land open. The founders of the dairy wanted the district to be alive, something that is important even today.

Today, they process cow's milk and goat's milk into about 25 dessert cheeses and have won a total of 55 medals in the national championships in small-scale food crafts for their various dessert cheeses. Patrik Östlund was asked what is appealing about working at the dairy.

- That there are so many different steps, from making the cheese to selling and eating the cheese. And then you can experiment a lot with cheese. You can lift out a small batch and make a test cheese with some fun spice mix to test yourself, says Patrik.

Patrik also explained that the biggest challenge in the work, according to him, has to do with logistics. It costs more and more and therefore he would like to see a collaboration with more small craftsmen on transport.

Slaktarn

Restaurateur Benny Andersson served the food at Slaktarn.

The day ended with dinner at Slaktarn in central Östersund. Slaktarn was started in 2015 with the idea of building a classic meat shop in Östersund and offering Östersund residents meat and self-produced charcuterie from the local community directly over the counter.

Johan Danielsson, CEO of Slaktarn, explained that they work with relationship food and described their philosophy.

- Above all, I think that the food served should be clean and honest. For us, it is important that we know our farmers. In this way, we also know that things have gone right. Actually, it's as simple as that. Our food that we serve in the restaurant is stripped down and naked, says Johan.