The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden
This paper is a review of the actual gathering and use of wild edible plants in the 18th and 19th centuries, with a brief concluding discussion on the present day use of wild plants as food within Sweden. The peasants and the nomads in pre-industrial Sweden utilised very few wild plant taxa as food....
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Polish Botanical Society
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:35e4676bece2454b82ec50d2e4bef22d 2023-05-15T18:07:47+02:00 The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden Ingvar Svanberg 2012-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2012.039 https://doaj.org/article/35e4676bece2454b82ec50d2e4bef22d EN eng Polish Botanical Society https://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/asbp/article/view/1032 https://doaj.org/toc/2083-9480 2083-9480 doi:10.5586/asbp.2012.039 https://doaj.org/article/35e4676bece2454b82ec50d2e4bef22d Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, Vol 81, Iss 4, Pp 317-327 (2012) ethnobiology plant gathering wild food plants famine food Botany QK1-989 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2012.039 2022-12-31T11:55:53Z This paper is a review of the actual gathering and use of wild edible plants in the 18th and 19th centuries, with a brief concluding discussion on the present day use of wild plants as food within Sweden. The peasants and the nomads in pre-industrial Sweden utilised very few wild plant taxa as food. Many even despised the wild fruits and green plants. Some plants and fruits were earlier mostly eaten fresh on the spot, or gathered for consumption in bread, gruel or soup. Other fruits were dried or preserved in other ways. In times of food shortages the amount of wild plants increased in the diet, but still the peasantry and nomads were often able to use fish and game to provide enough nutrients. With access to cheap sugar in the early 20th century wild fruits (Vaccinium myrtillus L., V. vitis-idaea L., and Rubus chamaemorus L.) increased in importance, especially among urban-dwellers and within food industry. In the last few decades fungi have also become part of the urban diet. Fifty years ago working class people gathered only Cantharellus cibarius (Fr.) and occasionally Boletus edulis Bull. Nowadays more taxa are utilised within the Swedish households, and especially the easy to pick Cantharellus tubaeformis (Pers.) has become very popular recently. Harvesting fruits and mushrooms in the forests is a popular pastime for many urban people, but also a source of income for immigrants and especially foreign seasonal labour. The only traditional green wild food plant that is regularly eaten in contemporary Sweden is Urtica dioica L. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rubus chamaemorus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81 4 317 327 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ethnobiology plant gathering wild food plants famine food Botany QK1-989 |
spellingShingle |
ethnobiology plant gathering wild food plants famine food Botany QK1-989 Ingvar Svanberg The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden |
topic_facet |
ethnobiology plant gathering wild food plants famine food Botany QK1-989 |
description |
This paper is a review of the actual gathering and use of wild edible plants in the 18th and 19th centuries, with a brief concluding discussion on the present day use of wild plants as food within Sweden. The peasants and the nomads in pre-industrial Sweden utilised very few wild plant taxa as food. Many even despised the wild fruits and green plants. Some plants and fruits were earlier mostly eaten fresh on the spot, or gathered for consumption in bread, gruel or soup. Other fruits were dried or preserved in other ways. In times of food shortages the amount of wild plants increased in the diet, but still the peasantry and nomads were often able to use fish and game to provide enough nutrients. With access to cheap sugar in the early 20th century wild fruits (Vaccinium myrtillus L., V. vitis-idaea L., and Rubus chamaemorus L.) increased in importance, especially among urban-dwellers and within food industry. In the last few decades fungi have also become part of the urban diet. Fifty years ago working class people gathered only Cantharellus cibarius (Fr.) and occasionally Boletus edulis Bull. Nowadays more taxa are utilised within the Swedish households, and especially the easy to pick Cantharellus tubaeformis (Pers.) has become very popular recently. Harvesting fruits and mushrooms in the forests is a popular pastime for many urban people, but also a source of income for immigrants and especially foreign seasonal labour. The only traditional green wild food plant that is regularly eaten in contemporary Sweden is Urtica dioica L. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ingvar Svanberg |
author_facet |
Ingvar Svanberg |
author_sort |
Ingvar Svanberg |
title |
The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden |
title_short |
The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden |
title_full |
The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden |
title_fullStr |
The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden |
title_sort |
use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial sweden |
publisher |
Polish Botanical Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2012.039 https://doaj.org/article/35e4676bece2454b82ec50d2e4bef22d |
genre |
Rubus chamaemorus |
genre_facet |
Rubus chamaemorus |
op_source |
Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, Vol 81, Iss 4, Pp 317-327 (2012) |
op_relation |
https://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/asbp/article/view/1032 https://doaj.org/toc/2083-9480 2083-9480 doi:10.5586/asbp.2012.039 https://doaj.org/article/35e4676bece2454b82ec50d2e4bef22d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2012.039 |
container_title |
Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae |
container_volume |
81 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
317 |
op_container_end_page |
327 |
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1766180020064092160 |