SLU news
New ”Culinary Nation” projects
Published: 21 March 2012
The Swedish Board of Agriculture has granted money to 50 projects that will contribute to make Sweden a better culinary nation. To raise the level of innovation in the food chain, to strengthen Swedish primary production and to develop public meals is three priority areas for the project money.
- The money in “Sweden – the New Culinary Nation” are popular and we are delighted that there is such a strong commitment on the issue. Just like last year, we have received a lot of applications; 150 applications for a total of 90 million, and we have 25 million to distribute. We have had to make tough priorities but now we have 50 good projects on track, says Annett Kjellberg, who is the manager responsible for the unit that handles project support on the Board of Agriculture.
Five priority areas
- We have prioritized a number of different areas that we, together with our collaboration group, has identified as being important for Sweden to develop as a culinary nation continues Annett Kjellberg. One of these areas is to enhance primary production. Development of culinary experiences at restaurants and in public meals is another. Finding new products, processes and technologies are also areas that are strongly linked to the development of the Swedish food industry.
Examples of approved projects
• Swedish Environmental Management Council has received support to continue its work on the project "The public food in food nation Sweden."
• In the project "More female cooks", Restaurangakademin wish to attract female chefs to compete in Sweden and internationally. It will do this by mentorship and other means.
• The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society West has received support for the project "Organic leadership for green success." In the project they want to support a strong leadership and engagement when it comes to increasing production and consumption of organic food.
How the grants work
The government has since 2007 provided funds to be used to develop different parts of the food sector. It is an annual payment that must be implemented and a reported within a year. Projects must be of a national character, which means that the results will be disseminated to other stakeholders. If the project is about models or methods it must be able to use in other places and in other contexts.