Slow Food Finland

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slow food finland

Long before the rise of the global Slow Food Movement in the 80s, Finns were promoting the importance of eating wild, natural and locally-produced foods.

Slow food is ingrained in the Finnish way of life and is central to the culture. It is part of a lifestyle that embraces a slower pace, simplicity and authenticity. Pure, healthy ingredients from nature are prepared in traditional ways that have been passed down over generations. Meals are shared experiences and presented with care, whether it is a morning table laid out with whole rye bread, cheeses and fruit, or a sit-down evening dinner. Food is considered much more than nourishment here; it is part of the Finnish identity and is celebrated throughout the seasons from the arrival of the first new potatoes in early June and crayfish festivities in August to the autumn fish fairs such as Helsinki’s Baltic Herring Festival.

When in Finland, enjoy and embrace this slowness – we’ll tell you how.

About Finland

Full of interesting contrasts, such as the four seasons, the Midnight Sun and winter darkness, urban and rural, East and West.

About Finland

connect to the land

Finland was, until quite recently, a predominantly rural society, and the Finns have never lost their connection to the land. In summer months, the cities empty out and people escape to the countryside for an immersion in nature and to enjoy the bounty of wild foods from the forests and surrounding wilderness. Join the Finns and venture to the woods, forests and fields.

pick freely

Finns grow up with a deep knowledge of the natural world and they know how to identify most edible plants, berries and mushrooms found in nature. Foraging is a favourite pastime and ‘Everyman’s Rights’ allows anyone to roam the land and pick freely, with the exception of some restricted areas such as nature reserves and military zones. The growing season is short but potent in the unique arctic climate. Cool temperatures and endless summer days produce such aromatic and nutrient-rich wild fare, they are often referred to as ‘superfoods’.

The forest is teeming with edible treasures, from low bush blueberries (bilberries), which are so abundant you might panic at the thought they cannot possibly all be consumed, to the sublime and more elusive chanterelle mushrooms. These wild foods, including lake fish and seafood, game and reindeer, are all staples of the Finnish diet.

eat locally

The climatic conditions that create such plenty in the forests also contribute to impressive yields in Finnish agriculture. Seasonal food grown in Finland is overflowing at market stalls and, if you take into consideration various preservation methods such as freezing, drying and fermentation, it is possible to eat locally all year-round.

go organic

Finnish farming tends to be small, artisanal and family-run. Organic farming is practised extensively and there are more than 4000 fields dedicated to organic farming which accounts for roughly 10% of the total farmland. Finns want to know where their food comes from and the Slow Food Movement, which has several regional chapters across the country, works towards achieving transparency in the food process and building on the relationships between producers and consumers.

enjoy the purity

Finnish food is said to be some of the purest in the world thanks to a pristine wilderness and strict environmental policies. Wide swaths of the forest are protected and in Finnish Lapland, where the eco-system is more fragile, almost thirty percent of the land is under conservation. Eighty percent of the inland lakes are considered to be exceptionally clean and sustained efforts to improve threatened ecosystems in the Baltic Sea, have lead to significant improvements.

buy fairtrade

Of course not everything can be grown in Finland but Finns understand the important relationship between plate, people and planet, and are the third largest consumers of Fair Trade products in the world. Fair Trade foods such as coffee, tea and bananas, as well as household products, are widely available throughout the country.

Did you know that the Finns consume most coffee per capita than any other nation in the world?

try the new nordic

The rise of New Nordic Cuisine can be said to have its roots in 2004 when a group of food activists and chefs from all over the Nordics got together and, inspired by principles of the Slow Food Movement, signed the New Nordic Manifesto. Finland was also a signatory. The mandate was to promote the Nordic diet with an emphasis on quality food that was ethically- produced, healthy and sustainable. The result was a renewed interest in heritage foods and while Finns have always remained loyal to their culinary roots, it sparked a gastronomic revival in slow, traditional cooking.

Chefs in Finland have become expert foragers and there is now a thriving food scene that elevates pure, simple ingredients and has put humble dishes like Baltic herring served with new potatoes back on the menu. Albeit, often with a modern, experimental twist, such as roast pike with a seaweed emulsion or potatoes in black current leaf, sorrel and grass sauce.

try the traditional

The Ark of Taste, a chapter of the Slow Food Movement, is cataloging endangered and historical foods all over the globe, including many in Finland which now appear with more regularity on Finnish plates. These include the tangy, amber-coloured lakka or cloudberry that grows in the bogs in Finnish Lapland, certain breeds of cattle and traditional Juustoleipä or cheese bread, a fresh cheese originating in Ostrobothnia in northern Finland over 200 years ago. Sahti, a strong Finnish fermented drink considered one of the last original beers in Europe, is also making a comeback.

slow drinking too

Slow Finnish food can now be more easily paired with sustainable beverages. There has been a renaissance in craft brewing and distilling in Finland and there are even some award-winning Finnish wines now available. Spelt beers, juniper-infused gins, 100 percent rye whiskeys and arctic berry wines are just some of the unique options on an increasingly varied local drinks menu.

go slow and glow

Slow food is not only about embracing the past. The future of food and the health of the planet is an ever-evolving ethical question. In Finland, young people in particular are making choices that reflect both a respect for nature and tradition and the need to make even more sustainable choices that shake up the status quo. Eating wild, local and organic goes without saying but a more serious consideration is meat and dairy consumption which contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions. A surprising number of Finns have become not just vegetarian, but vegan, in recent years, and it could even be said that veganism has gone mainstream. There are countless options for vegan dining in Finland and a plant-based diet is well-suited to this extraordinarily green country.

So go slow when you are here. Eat local, respect traditional food cultures, enjoy the beautiful foods found in Finnish nature and be open to new frontiers in sustainable living.

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