As one of the most sustainable and multicultural cities worldwide, Malmö works vigorously to use food as a primary driver for sustainability and social inclusion.
To demonstrate this strength and specific approach to the Network, the City of Malmö has invited 11 guests from 7 Délice Network Cities for a 2-day study tour dedicated to Social & Sustainable Gastronomy in September 2021.
Study Tour: A new way to Learn, Share and Connect
A first for the Network! The Swedish City of Malmö, a Délice member since 2019, experimented with a new format of gatherings in September 2021: the Study Tour.
The idea is to invite a limited number of people for a 48h visit to experience a member city through on-site visits, focusing on one aspect of their food strategy.
The guests were selected through a call of interest. They came from horizons and cities as diverse as Aarhus, Barcelona, Brussels, Gothenburg, Izmir, and Torino. The small size of the group and the diversity of profiles, from food experts, and DMO representatives to chefs and activists, fostered relevant connections and great discussions among the participants.
This Study Tour has been an excellent opportunity to collect good practices and bring some ideas home!
In Malmö, the 2-days intense program included visits and meetings with the men and women who make the food scene of Malmö engaged and unique.
Social Gastronomy in Rosengård District
With more than 150 nationalities represented, Rosengård is the most multicultural area of Malmö, marked by low incomes and unemployment difficulties. However, several initiatives in this area have demonstrated how much cooking and gastronomy can be significant drivers for integration and empowerment.
Among the initiatives showcased during the Study Tour are:
- Yalla Trappan: a work integration enterprise and women cooperative created in 2006. Fifty women from 20 different nationalities have been trained and empowered by this NGO. Among the strengthened skills, cooking is one of the most prominent. The organization has developed a catering service and opened three lunch restaurants in Malmö.
- Botildenborg: a unique place for interaction and integration. It contributes to social, ecological, and economic sustainability through farming and cooking. Botildenborg creates work opportunities, shares knowledge, and builds communities around an urban farm, a school garden, and professional kitchens. The Délice guests were invited to harvest on the urban farm and cook their meal!
Reducing food waste to foster sustainability
In Malmö, sustainability in gastronomy is addressed through local products, the development of vegetarian menus, and food waste reduction.
Rude food is a catering service developed by Zeenath Hasan, who applied his design training and thinking to cuisine. She aims to show that surplus food is not a “waste” by normalizing its consumption. She identifies food wastage points and actively collaborates with food sellers to re-circulate their surplus before it goes to waste. Part of this surplus is distributed to food-insecure groups in Malmö, while the other part is upcycled at pop-up events catering.
Restaurant Spill: Lunches are prepared with at least 90% of the raw ingredients meant to be thrown by food distributors. According to the products rescued, the affordable menu changes every day and displays the creativity of the Chef to feed about 150 people in this busy business area.
Malmö, a Global Foodie City
The Study tour in Malmö was also the opportunity to discover some actors in the rich food scene of Malmö, such as the Ruths restaurant and the MJ’s, where Chef Frida Nilsson works in partnership with Botildenborg urban farm.
Eventually, the Study tour brought participants to the Disgusting Food Museum, showcasing curious and unfamiliar food from worldwide, such as roasted guinea pigs, burgundy snails, stinky Durian fruit, or maggot-infested cheese Casu marzu. As few adventurous participants dared to taste insects, extra-spicy chili, and well-aged sharks, this visit pinpointed that if food is universal, disgust and taste are most of a cultural affair.
All the Network members were invited to participate in the Study Tour through a virtual Monthly Treat session where Karin Tingstedt from the City of Malmö presented some of the critical measures for the recovery of the hospitality industry.
