From the 10th until the 19th May - Discovering Sweden for UNISG students

A group of third year students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences will discover the beauty and peculiarities of northern Europe, in particular Sweden from the 10th until the 19th May.
Monday will be dedicated to a visit to the Elin Rydström Farm in Drottningholm and a lesson on the production of organic milk and the safeguarding of historical Swedish cow breeds. That evening there will be a dinner with Slow Food members and chefs and producers which are part of the Terra Madre network.

The following day, after a visit and lunch at the LRF (Swedish Farmers Federation) in Stockholm, the students will have the opportunity to follow a lesson on Swedish food and the media, held by the journalist Mats-Erik Nilsson, writer for the daily paper Svenska Dagbladeton. At 8pm the students will experience a “barhopping” evening with the Terra Madre chefs.
Wednesday 13th May the group will head off towards Saltaa Kvarn, Södermanland (south of Stockholm) where they will visit the Skilleby Garden, a training and educational centre for gardeners to learn about biodynamic farming techniques and they will assist a lesson on greenhouses and open-air plantations held by Martin Faellkvist and Frida Thorn, the company managers.

The day is then filled with other activities: visit to the ICA Naera and Kellmanska Garden CafÈ with lunch based on local products. Then visits to a local slaughterhouse from Stigtomta, an Ecological farm from Aendebol and, after having checked into the rooms at the Vaerskaels Farm Estate, dinner at the Flinkesta Farm in Flen with the owners Hans and Monica Naess and other local producers.

The following day is also filled with numerous visits to places such as the Khulsta Farm at Flen and to a sheep breeding with Bosse Flodin and Hans Naess, to the Jürss cheese factory, one of the most renowned in Sweden, to Varbro Artisanal Flourmill, millers of historic varieties of cereals since the 18th century and a visit also to the Gripsholm Castle with an introduction to the history of the Royal Theatre built by King Gustav III.

Friday 15 May the group will travel to the province of Jämtland in Östersund. After lunch at the Torsta in the city of Ås, a secondary school of Agriculture, the students will visit l’Eldrimner, a research centre on artisinal food and the JiLU (Jämtland Institute of Rural Development) where they will meet Erik Andersson, Dag Hartman and Wilhelm Skoglund.

That evening the group will dine and sleep in rooms at the Birka Folk Secondary School in Ås.
The first stop on Saturday 16th is Njarka, a native Sami vacation site where it will be possible to get to learn about reindeer breeding after which the students will travel to Storulvån for a dinner ‘alfresco’.

Sunday at Raftsjöhöjden the students will meet Gert and Gunilla Andersson, and learn about their goats’ cheese from Jämtland, a Slow Food Presidia (Källarlagrad getost). The stage in Sweden will finish in Birka, Ås with a visit and lesson on Sami history and culture, reindeer breeding and the situation of the Sami population nowadays in Sweden. After that, a visit to the Food in Action Organization and a light lunch at the boathouse, a visit to the Mittuniversity of Östersund hosted by Yvonne Grängsjl and a dinner at the Governor of Jämtland’s Mansion where students will be able to introduce themselves and talk about their experience during the stage