"I see a great opportunity for Icelanders in food production and I think we should look at what the Swedes have been doing with the Matlandet Sverige project," says Eygló Harðardóttir, Minister of Social Affairs and Housing.
The vision of the Swedish government is for Sweden to become the new food country of Europe and to be based on Swedish food traditions, valuable nature and culture, unique ingredients and chefs who have achieved great success internationally. We should be able to do all this too. The governing charter emphasizes measures to increase food production in Iceland. We emphasize Iceland's exports and the uniqueness of Iceland when it comes to the purity and quality of raw materials.
With increased sustainable and environmentally friendly food production, we had a rapidly growing target group both here at home and abroad. An increase in domestic food production provides an opportunity to increase economic growth and increase employment. The opportunities are found in food processing, exports, tourism and experience as well as in agriculture itself.
Our specialty when it comes to food freshness is unique. The land is large and we have access to large amounts of clean water. Good raw materials are the basis of everything else in food production, and it is good to be able to rely on agriculture and unspoiled Icelandic nature.
The world is facing challenges when it comes to food production, and when innovating in the food industry, it is not least important to think about food quality and food safety at the same time as trying to ensure food security in the world. The government should consider increasing the number of food producers, both large and small, and increasing their turnover.
The largest food buyer is the public sector, which entails a great deal of responsibility. The government's policy is therefore very important when it comes to purchasing raw materials for the thousands of meals that are served daily in schools, hospitals and old people's homes.
In fact, there needs to be a certain awareness-raising when it comes to choosing ingredients, in addition to which companies and institutions need to pay close attention to the selection and training of employees when processing and purchasing food. Emphasis must also be placed on the full utilization of raw materials and rationalization in purchasing, without compromising the quality of the meals.
Food is and will be a big part of our experience of visiting other countries. We need to place even more emphasis on this in Iceland. It can even be said that the sale of domestic food to foreign tourists is an export, as the buyer pays for the transport himself. A great example of how people have used domestic ingredients and culture are his spicy sausages Klaus Kretzer, which he produces from mutton in the Wilderness. The sausages have made a breakthrough and have become part of the tourist's experience when he visits Skaftafell and Öræfin. He was assisted in the development of the idea Matís food factory in Höfn. We need to do more of this. That was the task Arctic Bioeconomy particularly pleasing, but it was part of the Icelandic Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The project resulted in almost 30 new products that were developed in collaboration with Matís, which has led this part of the project.
The government has a duty to protect the uniqueness of Iceland and the reputation of Icelandic food is part of that. We need to support development in this sector and we can do that by supporting Icelanders' participation in cooking competitions, the production of Icelandic cookbooks and TV shows and of course the operation of a diverse flora of Icelandic restaurants, so we present our food, encourage people to visit the country and we support Icelandic food production.
The above text originally appears in Matís annual report for the year 2014.