Nutritional and Health Aspects of Food in Nordic Countries

Veslemøy Andersen, Eirin Bar, Gun Wirtanen, Veslemøy Andersen, Eirin Bar, Gun Wirtanen

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780128094167
• eBook ISBN: 9780128094563
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nutrition, Dietics & Bariatrics

Nutritional and Health Aspects of Foodin Nordic Countries provides an analysis of traditional and ethnic foods from the Nordic countries, including Norway (and Svalbard), Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands). The book addresses the history of use, origin, composition and preparation, ingredient origin, nutritional aspects, and the effects on health for various foods and food products in each of these countries. In addition, readers will find local and international regulations and suggestions on how to harmonize regulations to promote global availability of these foods.- Provides insight into the varieties of food and food products available in the Nordic countries- Presents nutritional and health claims that are either based on opinion and/or experience, on scientific evidence, or on both- Contains a framework to determine whether these northern European foods meet local and international regulatory requirements- Offers strategies to remedy those foods that do not meet local and international regulatory requirements

Chapter 1

Health and Nutritional Perspectives on Nordic Food Traditions—An Approach Through Food Culture and History

Virginie Amilien⁎; Henry Notaker^{† ⁎} Research Professor, Consumption Research Norway (SIFO), Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
^† Food Historian, Independent Researcher, Author of Studies on Food History and Culture, Oslo, Norway

Abstract

This chapter proposes a cultural historical analysis of the nutritional and health aspects of traditional and ethnic foods in Nordic countries. Using a food cultural perspective permits to emphasize the contextual frame and to better understand food uses and identities. After an introductory section about the various elements of Nordic food culture and traditions, we intend to delimit the study by explaining what “food culture and traditions” mean and by giving a general overview about Nordic dietetic and nutritional policy. A second part will focus on concrete chosen food products, such as dairy products, corn and cereals, fruits and vegetables, or meat and fish, thus systematically presenting a historical view. A third part will eventually consider the roles of situation and context in order to emphasize evolution and changes, while a fourth part concentrates on current Nordic food culture through the New Nordic Food movement and Nordic nutritional policy.

Keywords

Food culture; Nordic food; Food history; Food policy; Food traditions

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank our colleagues Atle Wehn Hegnes and Gun Roos for enriching discussions and providing advice.

1.1 Introduction

Considering food culture and traditional products as part of nutritional policy is not only extremely interesting and enriching, but is also pertinent in a period of global renaissance for Nordic food.

On the one hand, there is a lack of cultural perspective and reflections in “EU-initiatives carried out within the framework of health promotion and obesity prevention” (Hedegaard, 2016, p. 537). Hedegaard claims the necessity of studying food culture and especially the link between place, time, and identity and its impact on obesity rates. On the other hand, discussing food culture and traditions in Nordic countries has become fashionable. This recent interest is well illustrated by a nice book signed by Chef Nilsson promoting traditional products, ancient techniques and local know-how, and Nordic food culture (Nilsson, 2015).

In our cultural historical analysis, we will take a closer look at the nutritional and health aspects of traditional and ethnic foods in Nordic countries from a food cultural perspective; the aim is to better understand the link between food, culture, nutrition policy, health dimension, and identity in Nordic countries. After an introductory section about the various elements of Nordic food culture and traditions, we intend to delimit the study by explaining what food culture means and by giving a general overview about Nordic dietetic and nutritional policy. In the second part, we will then focus on concrete selected food products, such as dairy products, corn and cereals, fruits and vegetables, or meat and fish, thus systematically presenting a historical view to better understand today's cultural significance of these foods. A third part will eventually consider the roles of situation and context in order to emphasize evolution and changes. The final part will concentrate on current Nordic food culture through the New Nordic food movement and Nordic nutritional policy.

1.2 Overview and Definitions

A Nordic approach

Nordic countries are home to more than 25 million inhabitants and cover an area of more than 3.5 million km² (Greenland alone constitutes about half that area). The countries share common values and belongings but have different landscapes, climates, and ways of living.

The political history of the area during the last 500 years has been dominated by two great powers, the kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark. Finland was part of Sweden until 1809 and was part of the Russian empire until it became an independent republic in the early 20th century. Norway lost its independence by the end of the Middle Ages and became part of the Danish kingdom until 1814. This was followed by a union with Sweden until 1905, when it became an independent kingdom. Iceland became an independent republic by the end of World War II after centuries under Danish rule. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have a statute as autonomous regions; all the states are parliamentary democracies. During the Reformation in the 16th century the governments changed the official religion from Catholicism to Lutheranism, which is still the dominant religion in these increasingly secular societies. There are also important religious minorities, some of them as a result of immigration in the last decades.

The natural conditions of the area are very diverse, with mountains, valleys, fjords, and lakes in the North and plains and heaths in the South; forests are primarily found in the Northern parts, except in Iceland. The area has a continental climate with cold winters and warm summers, but the Western coasts have a climate influenced by the relatively warm waters of the Gulf Stream. As a food-exporting country, Denmark has the highest percentage of arable land, while a main food export from Norway is fish.

Even before the Middle ages, cultural and commercial contacts were strong across the Gulf of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland, across Öresund and the Baltic Sea between the south of Sweden and Denmark, and across the North Sea between Norway and Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, England, and the Netherlands. However, the Nordic countries had limited contact with the German states even after the Hansa period had lost most of its power. Today the area is economically and commercially linked to the European Union, with Denmark, Sweden, and Finland as member states.

1.2.1 Tradition and traditional food¹

“Traditional food” is a quite recent term in Nordic countries, where food ethnologists mostly used concepts like “old” or “ancient” in discussing food habits from previous generations up to World War II. As written by Handler and Linnekin (Handler & Linnekin, 1984, p. 273), “In its common-sense meaning, tradition refers to an inherited body of custom and beliefs,” also described as a social construction of traditions. The concept of tradition is often used in a static way, although tradition is always changing. In other words the bottom line in the tradition is not the reference to the past but rather the expression of its link to the present. Traditional foods are then chosen and defined in relation to what is important for us today. As Pouillon stated, “A tradition is defined by looking from now to the future, and not the opposite,” (Pouillon, 1975, p. 160). In a previous study based on both a theoretical and an empirical approach of the concept of “traditional food” in reflexive modernity, we observed that the concept of traditional food, as it is used today in Nordic countries, was based on four main pillars: time, know-how, place, and meaning. The axes of time and know-how are interwoven in a “meaning” dimension, which links time and culture, as well as a “place” dimension, which links geographical boundaries and local identity (Amilien & Hegnes, 2013). In other words, “traditional food” is a term used for both preserving older values and renewing a sense of identity. The interest for traditional foods recently evolved towards localized food and terroir (Amilien, 2011, 2012) or cultural heritage, which basically cover the same understanding of food in the past and present with an even greater focus respectively on place, know-how and on identity.

“Traditional” and “traditional food” are currently concepts used in everyday life for political or scientific purposes. Traditional food is often defined either through a product approach, where foodstuff or conservation methods are at stake, or through a constructionist approach including sociocultural and political perspective of food culture. It has been an important part of the European agricultural policy since the beginning of our century as underlined in an overview article about traditional food (Guerrero et al., 2009), which provides a useful example of the complex mixture created by collective effort and product positioning. The challenge is to have an active relationship with tradition. According to the Italian historian Massimo Montanari, food culture takes place where tradition and innovation intersect. Tradition, as well as innovation, builds on know-how, techniques, and values, which are handed down through the generations. Hence tradition for Montanari is a very successful innovation, and culture is the interface between these two perspectives (Montanari, 2006, p. 6). Although this duality or embeddedness between tradition and innovation is a major pillar, it seems that the Nordic perspective of food culture gives a larger understanding of food that spans practices, structure, norms, consumption, and situations, all while taking into account the context in which this culture evolves and is transformed, including change, tradition, and innovation.

1.2.2 A food culture approach

Food culture is a significant concept in Nordic countries, where the first professorial chair in food culture was created in Finland in 2012.² The concept of food culture is still not currently used in food studies,³ although it has been used in Nordic food studies since the mid-1980s.⁴

Basically, the notion builds on the words food and culture, where food not only refers to the tangible product people use (e.g., gathered, picked, collected, made, produced, transported, processed, given, exchanged, sold, cooked, eaten, spoiled, and thrown away) but also to the social context and situation. Culture mainly brings up the two c...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Health and Nutritional Perspectives on Nordic Food Traditions—An Approach Through Food Culture and History
• Chapter 2: Food, Nutrition, and Health in Norway (Including Svalbard)
• Chapter 3: Aspects of Food, Nutrition, and Health in Sweden
• Chapter 4: Food, Nutrition, and Health in Denmark (Including Greenland and Faroe Islands)
• Chapter 5: Food, Nutrition, and Health in Finland
• Chapter 6: Food, Nutrition, and Health in Iceland
• Chapter 7: Food, Nutrition, and Health in Sápmi
• Chapter 8: Common Nutrition and Health Issues: Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
• Chapter 9: Environmental Sustainability Issues Regarding Nordic Food Production
• Chapter 10: Common Legal Issues for Traditional and Ethnic Food
• Chapter 11: Future Outlooks: Nordic Gastronomy in Food Marketing and Catering
• Index