Climate, geography and protective legislation team up to provide abundance of nature's best.
One of Sweden's foremost natural assets is fresh water. The groundwater deep in the bedrock dates back to the Ice Age. The glaciers in the north-west hold enormous volumes of water, as do the extensive wetlands. The largest reservoirs, however, are the numerous lakes — around 100,000 of them.
Powerful rivers also run through the country and mostly flow into the Baltic, the largest brackish sea in the world. Many of these rivers drive turbines that provide electric power. Sweden´s water is not only unusually abundant, it is also unusually clean. High-quality drinking water requiring only minor purification can be taken directly from the lakes.
A benign act of providence has endowed the country with considerable natural assets. Sweden's forests appear endless. This partly due to the frost in the ground, which ensures that both the groundwater and humus layer remain on the surface so new shoots can always sprout.
Wood products
Since many harmful insects and micro-organisms cannot survive the harsh cold of a Swedish winter, there is less need for chemicals than in southerly climes. All this provides conditions for a high-quality forest industry. Swedish wood products, processed to varying degrees, are in high demand. The same is true for the berries and mushrooms that grow wild in the country's forests.
More than one tenth of the land area of Sweden is under cultivation. Farming conditions vary in this long country. In the south the growing period is nearly 100 days longer than in the north. Throughout the country the climate only permits a single harvest. In the winter months the Swedish soil is allowed to rest and recover, mostly under a protective covering of snow.
Cultivation of pasture
A sparse population, a favourable climate and wealth of fresh groundwater dating back to the Ice Age, all help to make Swedish countryside unusually clean. Swedish legislation is extremely strict when it comes to growing crops and raising animals. The use of chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers has been reduced by 70 per cent the past ten years, and antibiotics may only be given to farm animals in the event of diseases.
Barley, wheat, rye and oats are growing in Sweden, as well as oilseed rape, potatoes and sugar beet. The cultivation of pasture dominates the north. Some of the most fertile fields in the world are found in southern Sweden.
In the 1980s, there was popular and political demand for animals to be given the right to humane treatment during breeding and rearing. Astrid Lindgren, the famous Swedish writer of children's books, was a significant spokeswoman for this movement.
Among other things a new Animal Protection Act was passed, regarded as among the strictest in the world. The act safeguards the natural way of life animals need, specifying minimum space and that breeding and slaughter must be conducted under dignified conditions.
Another law prohibits the use of antibiotics in feed, stating they may only be used when prescribed by a vet. When this law came into effect, many people complained. Today the Swedes are proud of it. The animals on the country's farms have become healthier. Salmonella is almost non-existent in Swedish food. Consumers, both in Sweden and abroad, have become more aware of the chain along which food travels to the shops and are making their demands felt.
A Swedish sow is entitled to a certain number of square metres. Her piglets are entitled to straw to root around in and can stay with the sow up to a certain age. Docking their tails is forbidden. Similar regulations also safeguard the right of cattle to a life with a low level of stress. The rules say that dairy cows must be put out to pasture for at least two months of the year.
Swedish chicken farming has earned international recognition for its high quality and advanced anti-salmonella control programme. Research has become increasingly convinced of the sensory effects of stress.
More and more consumers are noticing this. They find that an animal that has lived a natural life, and been slaughtered in a dignified environment and animal health are profitable
for the breeder, which many people previously doubted.
- Courtesy: www.foodfromsweden.com
