Sweden – The New Food Nation
Perhaps Sweden isn’t the first country that comes to mind today when you think of food and food tou-rism. And that’s what the Government wants to do something about. In autumn 2008, the Minister for Agriculture will be inviting relevant people and organisations to discuss and gain further ideas about how we should move forward to achieve the vision of Sweden as the new food nation and which initiatives this will require. As the Government sees it, Sweden has every chance of becoming Europe’s leading food nation. Swedish cuisine is experiencing new trends.
Swedish chefs are winning international awards and a number of Swedish restaurants currently have stars in the restaurant bible, the Guide Rouge:
Stockholm: Edsbacka krog, Esperanto, Fredsgatan 12, Lejontornet, Lux, Mattias Dahlgren, Operakällaren
Göteborg: Fond, Basement, Kock och Vin, Restaurang 28+, Sjömagasinet
Local and regional cuisines and food culture are attracting increasing interest and the demand is coming from people in urban and rural areas alike, as well as from a growing number of international visitors. Rural Sweden has a key role to play here, the whole way from field to fork. For Sweden as a food nation, its strengths lie in the diversity of products it produces.
Like other Nordic governments, the Swedish Government is supporting the New Nordic Food project. The aim of this initiative is to promote the food and cuisine of the Nordic countries. Part of the programme is focused on creating an awareness of Nordic food in the Nordic countries and internationally. The Estonian initiative, the Baltic Sea Culinary Route, is a good example of tourism linked to culinary expe- riences at an international and regional level.