Category: News

Employees in one of Grafarholt's larger buildings will not leave their (and others') left on Monday between 11 and 13, but then all the employees of Vínlandsleiðir 12-16 plan to pick in their immediate surroundings, but a rough estimate is that well over three hundred people can be expected when it is at its peak. Tómas from the Blue Army is going to put the rubbish in place at Sorpa's! 😉

With this, the companies want to draw attention to the social responsibility that rests on all of us, individuals, institutions and companies, to reduce waste in the environment.

In addition, Matís employees challenge others to do the same and we especially mention Nýsköpunarmiðstöð, Keldur and Matvælastofnun to hurry up!

A very exciting project has received a grant of ISK 20 million from the Rannís Technology Development Fund, but the project will continue with the development of food-processed supplements from by-products of sheep products. 

The grant is for two years and the intention is to find at least four new raw materials from Icelandic lambs that can be used in food supplement production and develop high-quality products from them. 

Be sure to follow on the Matís and Pure Natura website how this project is progressing. You can sign up for Matís' mailing list below, on the left side of the page. 

In Iceland, chicken feathers have so far been landfilled, but it is necessary to establish the utilization of this raw material, as the national plan for waste treatment assumes that landfilling of organic waste will be reduced to 35% of the total volume on 1 July 2020.

It is known abroad to recycle chicken feathers into protein flour by various methods, but the knowledge has not been transferred to domestic production, so now the intention is to process protein-rich flour that is suitable for making feed from Icelandic chicken feathers. Experiments will be made on the processing of chicken feathers, in collaboration with Reykjagarður, where the protein will be broken down into smaller units. Feather meal can be used in feed for pigs, fur animals, pets and fish.

The aim of the project is to turn an underutilized product (raw material that costs money into landfilling) into valuable, protein-rich flour that is used in feed production, to reduce the environmental impact of Icelandic industry and increase utilization in chicken production. The project is also an effort to meet the goals of the national plan, which aims to significantly reduce the landfill of organic waste by 2020. It can be estimated that around and over 2000 tonnes of chicken feathers are landfilled annually in Iceland. No efficient processing channels for feathers have been developed so far, but the project will lay the foundation for the efficient utilization of local raw materials in Iceland to reduce the environmental impact of Icelandic food production.

Agricultural Productivity Fund and AVS Fisheries Research Fund strengthen the project.

The Icelandic Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers was in the years 2014-2016 and the program was named The Nordic Bioeconomy Initiative, or NordBio. As a result, a project was launched, "Innovation small producers - Nordbio"Where the main emphasis was on following up and further supporting small producers following innovation projects carried out under the NordBio presidency program. A report from that project can be found at Matís website . 

The main objective of the innovation projects for small producers was to have a direct economic impact through innovation and value creation in the Nordic bioeconomy, thus strengthening regional economic growth. Work was done on 17 innovation projects.

The experience of the projects was that knowledge and training are necessary for ideas to come true and to enable producers to meet all food safety requirements.

The Nordbio innovation projects have shown that the use of some kind of "innovation credit" can be an effective way of encouraging innovation, knowledge transfer and technology to increase the value of living resources. It has been shown that there is a great need to offer this type of grant to small producers and entrepreneurs in order to stimulate innovation and unleash the power of imagination. 

It would be a great incentive to establish a fund that can contribute to innovation in the spirit of the Nordbio projects, especially in light of the opportunities that now lie hidden in the increase in the number of tourists making their way to Iceland. 

Elísa Viðarsdóttir will give an open lecture at Matís, Vínlandsleið 12, room 312 on Tuesday 10 April at 15.45. Her project is called: 

The golden head. Physical and chemical properties of cod heads. „The Golden head. Effect of size and season of catch on physicochemical properties of cod heads„.

Elísa's supervisors are Sigurjón Arason and Magnea Guðrún Karlsdóttir from Matís and María Guðjónsdóttir from the University of Iceland. 

Catches of cod are in significant quantities and began early in Iceland, and cod has been one of the most important fish species in Iceland. The utilization of cod is good compared to many other species. The utilization of heads, especially for trawlers, has not been good enough, however, because the majority of freezer trawlers have not been able to bring their heads ashore due to lack of space and lack of equipment.

The aim of the project was primarily to promote further development and utilization of valuable products made from cod heads (Gadus morhua) to meet requests for new products in response to the volatile market for dried cod heads. The first step towards further development and value creation was to create an important knowledge database on the chemical and physical properties of different parts of the head, ie. cheeks, gills, eyes, brain and gels. When creating the database, it was necessary to take into account factors such as the biological variability of the fish, the time of year of fishing and the size of the fish. Once these factors have been carefully mapped, the path to further product development and value creation will become more purposeful.

Samples were taken in May and November 2017. Cats' eyes, brains, cheeks, gels and gills were examined separately with respect to fish size and season of fishing. The results of the measurements showed, for example, that the fat content in the brain was considerably higher than the fat content in the other four parts that were measured. The highest fat content was found in 6-7 kg of fish caught in November and its fat content was about 5%, but the fat content in the other parts (eyes, gills, cheeks and gels) was in the range of 0.2-0.9%. The results of this study showed that water always goes hand in hand with protein and fat in different parts of the head. When the water content was high, the fat and protein content were low. The ash content of the gills was higher than in all the other parts, probably due to the fact that the gills have a different composition than the other parts. The omega-6 / omega-3 ratio was high in all the components measured but in varying amounts. This high percentage is considered good for human health and therefore one more reason to work these parts out of the head separately.

Based on the results obtained from the chemical analysis of different parts of the head, there is every reason to work on these parts separately to increase the value of the head.

Björn Viðar Aðalbjörnsson, an employee of Matís and the University of Iceland, recently received a grant from the Student Innovation Fund for two students, but the intention is to explore new ways to improve health, reduce drug costs and increase the quality of life of the elderly. 

Nutrition in old age can be problematic and often reduces the appetite of older people. This can lead to malnutrition which has a variety of health problems. Anorexia can cause a lot of weight loss along with fatigue and discomfort. A sign of malnutrition is a low body mass index associated with weight loss. This is a known risk factor for death in the elderly and also increases the risk of accidents due to weakness. Increased appetite and improved well-being of the elderly play a major role in nutritional intake. Nutritional intake is important for patients who are recovering from surgery or accident. 

The aim of the project is to shorten hospitalization or presence in hospitals by simply changing the appearance of the food on offer. Shorter attendance at a hospital means a better quality of life for older people and consequently less strain on the health system with associated savings for society.

The weekend 7.-8. April, a varied environmental program will be offered at the Nordic House for guests of all ages. The goal is to present simple and fun solutions that promote environmentally friendly and greener homes.

Workshops, lectures, seminars, presentations, design exhibitions and documentaries will be offered, among other things. The events have in common to present ways to make better use of the values all around us and reduce waste in various areas.

Our homes - houses and gardens - are small ecosystems where we set the rules!

The main partners are: Garðyrkjufélag Íslands, Landvernd, Listaháskóli Íslands, Matís, Sorpa, Umhverfisstofnun and Vakandi. The Nordic Focus is involved in planning and sponsoring the environmental festival.

Participation is free and everyone is welcome as long as accommodation allows. No registration required - just come! 🙂

More about the event can be found at Facebook. 

Events for children / families

• Landvern Environmental School, Sunday
• A visit to the greenhouse to Grandma Nature, plant and get good advice for the garden, Saturday and Sunday at 13-16
• The Wonder Workshop, want to create a weird fish or an alien? You choose! in the workshop, work will be done with textile material that is produced during production in Iceland, Saturday at 14-16 (registration)
• The spring works in Vatnsmýri, bird protection stands for celebration in the bird sanctuary in Vatnsmýri, a walk for good! Saturday at 13-17.

Other events

• This is how we reduce food waste / Lectures: Selina Juul from Stop Food Waste and Klaus B. Pedersen from Too Good To Go. Both have received the Nordic Council's Environment Prize for their excellent results in the fight against food waste, Saturday at 16-17. Chat and taste after the lectures.
• Sauerkraut for gourmets: Dagný Hermannsdóttir teaches guests about both ancient and modern methods of pickling vegetables. Guests get the opportunity to taste unique samples from Dagný's garden! Sunday.
• Advanced course in composting: Garðyrkjufélag Íslands runs a course in composting and introduces simple methods that are suitable for both the kitchen and the garden. Sunday.
• All-Icelandic flatbread: food talk and taste, Sveinn Kjartansson TV chef and Flatbökusamsteypan talk about pizza as the perfect flexible recipe AND how to use Icelandic ingredients in an original way, Sunday at 15-17.

Documentaries

• Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story, award-winning documentary on food waste, Friday 6 April and Sunday 8 April at 18. // http://www.foodwastemovie.com
• The flatbread conglomerate, at the festival it will be possible to see a short documentary about the Flatbökusamsteypan's urgent food project.

Runs on Saturday and Sunday from 13-17

Educational and presentation booths

• Arctic Barley
• Bird protection
• Icelandic Horticultural Society
• Graenviska.is
• Available to nature
• Klaran.is
• Land protection
• The ugly potatoes
• Matís
• mena.is
• Mistur.is
• Sorpa
• The cottage and the garden
• Sauerkraut for gourmets
• Ugly
• Environment Agency
• Verandi (Saturday)

Food design: An exhibition organized by design students at the Iceland Academy of the Arts

The theme of the exhibition is food, food experience, food design, underutilized raw materials and innovation. An original, beautiful and thought-provoking show from aspiring product designers.

Sewing workshop: sew your own shopping bag

The Icelandic Women's Association opens a sewing workshop at the Nordic House. Do you have pieces of fabric, strong fabric or curtains at home that deserve new life? Take the materials with you and sew your own shopping bags - or let others enjoy them!

You can send inquiries to kristini@nordichouse.is

A very good interview was published this weekend in Fiskifréttir. The interview is with Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir and Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís about the European project MareFrame which ended recently. It is safe to say that what has come out of the project will have a far-reaching impact on improved fisheries management around the world, taking into account more factors than has been done before.

Icelanders have played a key role in developing revolutionary technology for fisheries management. Fish stocks are then examined in the context of the ecosystem as a whole, as well as both economic and social factors.

For the past four years, Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir at Matís has managed the European project MareFrame together with Gunnar Stefánsson at the University of Iceland. The MRI also played a key role in the project. The final report of the project has been published and will be presented to stakeholders shortly.

"Fisheries management in most parts of the world has revolved almost exclusively around individual stocks," says Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson, who has also taken an active part in the project along with other Icelanders.

See more in Fiskifréttir

^{Photo with news: Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir project manager MareFrame distributes Jónas R. Viðarsson, project manager FarFish of the project, a healthy dose of herring halibut from Margild ehf. but it is new that fish oil is made from pelagic species. Anna has now finished working on the MareFrame project, but Jónas has just started as FarFish's project manager, so it's good that the transfer of knowledge is taking place on this occasion 🙂}

The first two articles in issue 31/2018 were published in the international scientific journal Icelandic Agricultural Sciences.

The first article, Differences in the performance of Icelandic birch in a 14-year experiment in Miðnesheiði, reports a comparative experiment with 25 quails of Icelandic birch from all over the country. Miðnesheiði is a windy area with salt deposits and the soil is poor and the forestry there is clean. The purpose of the study was to find birch groves that were best suited for this area. The experiment began in 1998 and in 2003 lupine plants were planted inside the birch. In 2012, fourteen years after the birch was planted, the results were evaluated.

Southern birch weeds were better found in Miðnesheiði than weeds from other parts of the country. The height and survival of the poem Þórsmörk proved to be the best. Local quarries from Reykjanes thrived worse than other southern quarries. When cultivating birch forest on infertile soil in Suðurnes, it is recommended to emphasize the crops that have shown the best performance in the experiment. It is also recommended to apply the plants in the first years after planting and at the same time to sow lupine.

The second article, Effects of elevated soil temperature the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO) and nitric acid (HONO) in forest soils in the South, deals with research that is part of a large research project, ForHot (www.forhot.is), on the effects of increased soil temperature following the Suðurlandsskjálftan earthquake in 2008 on ecosystems and ecosystem processes.

In this study, measurements were made on the flow of methane (CH₄), laughing gas (N₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) with increased soil temperature in the fold in the spruce forest. Emissions of the same gases were measured in soil cores in a laboratory at 20 ° C, in addition to the gases nitric oxide (NO) and nitric acid (HONO).

The results showed that eight years of soil warming had changed both the chemical composition and microbial flora of the soil and thus the ability to produce the aforementioned gases. However, the production capacity of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O in a laboratory at 20 ° C not regularly with increased temperature in the fold. The authors discuss the adaptation of microorganisms to increased temperature, but also consider whether some of the gases released in nature may be from greater depths, of geological origin, rather than due to decay in the soil.

This will be the first Icelandic study to examine the release of nitric acid (HONO) from the soil. 

An exciting conference on algae farming, aquaculture and shellfish farming will take place on 19 and 20 March under the title Strandbúnaður 2018.

Icelanders, like other people on the planet, face great challenges, including food production for the future. More and more people are paying attention to the fact that less than 5% of the world's total food and feed production comes from oceans and lakes, even though they cover about 70% of the earth's surface. It is therefore worth looking at making better use of water for food production, and this is where coastal equipment comes in strong, thus playing together the sixth world goal -  clean water and toilet facilities  - and the fourteenth -  life in water  - to the other world goal -  no hunger. Industries based on the exploitation of resources on and off the coast of the country can certainly help solve the challenges we face. The world's food security can be strengthened by the so-called blue revolution - food production - in water - including along the coast.

Several attempts have been made to move the concept aquaculture into Icelandic costume. Aquaculture is primarily about fish farming, shellfish farming or cultivation and the use of algae is not covered. Aquaculture refers to aquaculture in liquid, that concept has not solved anchors. Coastal farming is a synonym for industries related to the utilization of land and / or sea quality in and along the coast of the country, whether it is cultivation or fire, just as agriculture refers to cultivating the land, cultivating animal species and benefiting from what the animals give off. It was noted at the first conference, a year ago, that the name coastal equipment could be established.

It is important that there is an open forum for professional and informative debate on the most urgent and important issues for the industries that utilize resources and quality on, by and off the coast of the country. The industries in question are aquaculture, algae farming and shellfish farming. Stakeholders have the opportunity to make their decisions at the conference Coastal equipment 2018 which will take place at the Grand Hotel on 19 and 20 March. The Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture will chair the conference. Strandbúnaður 2018 is open to everyone, it will be discussed separately, at defined seminars; ethics, welfare, possibilities for land farming of salmon, whether salmon lice are an "emerging" problem, the fate of Icelandic shellfish farming in light of competition with live imported shells, utilization of small algae as a revolution in the production of organic matter and that farming is more than salmon. Among the seminars is the harvest festival of research and finally there will be a discussion about health in coastal equipment with the subtitle work and awareness raising.

In all cultivation work where man uses land or sea areas for his own benefit, questions may arise as to what is morally right to go far in terms of the environment, morality and not least the welfare of the living organisms of the century. These speculations are justified in connection with the industries covered by coastal equipment as well as other industries where organisms are cultivated for human consumption. Strandbúnaðar 'conferences are intended to be a forum for constructive discussions about the industries, and the opening seminar provides an opportunity to discuss these issues. The topics will be discussed from the point of view of ethics, the protection of territories, possible penalties for warning will be examined and possible preventive measures will be looked at.

In light of the research that contributes to knowledge that supports business development, a special seminar is dedicated to the results of research and development, which has been funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund, the Environmental Fund for Aquaculture, the Technology Development Fund, Nordic funds, European funds and economic funds. There, some examples of how new knowledge has been applied for the benefit of the Icelandic economy for value creation in coastal equipment will be discussed and at the same time examples of opportunities for advancement in that field will be given. It is important to succeed in implementing new knowledge in the operation of companies so that the impact of the investment that has been invested in research, innovation and development work can be maximized.

The seminar on the health of coastal equipment will include; what are the biggest challenges, where and what can be done better and what innovations can be applied to our neighbors' experience bank to take advantage of the conditions that are considered favorable to increase food production from aquaculture and other coastal industries.

The article first appeared in Morgunblaðið on March 14, 2018