I & I - 2011, Page 22

22 I&I
Nutritionists say that one third of the
dinner plate should be vegetables. Tra-
ditionally, that was far from the truth in Ice-
land. For centuries, vegetables were largely
unheard of, let alone fruit—the country’s
climate didn’t allow the growing of greens,
with only a few exceptions. Potatoes were
first grown in Iceland in the mid-18th centu-
ry and immediately became a huge hit. The
yellow turnip, or rutabaga, which arrived a
few decades later, was also hardy enough to
survive the cool Icelandic summer. The rhu-
barb, which has a history of 130 years in Ice-
land, has also become part of the country’s
culinary heritage, for example as a sweet
stew with cream. The growing of other veg-
etables was impractical and import rare;
children used to get apples and oranges at
Christmas as a special treat.
Iceland may be located at a northerly
latitude but the county also has a great
advantage: geothermal heat, which can
be used for heating, electricity production
and the production of vegetables. Green-
house farming began in the 1920s and has
expanded rapidly in the past decades; the
electricity usage for greenhouse lighting
increased from one GW hour in 1984 to
36.3 GW hours in 2004, which equals the
electricity consumption of up to 4,000
homes. Now Icelanders enjoy locally grown
cucumbers, which have a 95 percent mar-
ket share, and tomatoes, with a 70 percent
market share, year-round, and a wealth of
other seasonal vegetables. Additionally, the
types of vegetables grown outdoors have
increased in the past decades. The cradle of
Icelandic greenhouse farming is upcountry
in the county of Árnessýsla in Southwest
Iceland: Flúdir, Reykholt and Laugarás. This
area represents 78 percent of greenhouse
farming in the country. Vegetable markets
are held every weekend in Hveragerdi dur-
ing the summer and fresh vegetables can
be bought straight from a few farms in the
region, including Sólheimar and Engi.
So what about fruit? One should eat
five fruits per day, nutritionists preach, but
to live up to that wisdom, Icelanders must
rely on imported goods. Yet today, more
and more people are experimenting with
growing apple trees with promising results.
More exotic fruit would have to be grown
inside greenhouses; Iceland boasts one
banana tree at the Horticulture College of
Hveragerdi. However, expanding into mass
production of fruit is a question of money.
Some Icelanders would like the nation to
become self-sufficient in growing both fruit
and vegetables, and call for geothermal en-
ergy to be used for greenhouses instead of
large-scale industrial projects like aluminum
smelters. Acclaimed musician Björk has
even suggested that instead of continuing
with the smelter plans in Helguvík on Reyk-
janes peninsula near Keflavík International
Airport, a giant greenhouse should be con-
structed instead. And who knows? Maybe
fruits and vegetables will become the new
aluminum one day.
By Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir.
it isn’t eAsy being green…
except mAybe in iceLAnd
Since they became widely available, Icelanders prefer their
vegetables fresh and local. Flúdir, Reykholt and Laugarás
are the cradle of the country’s greenhouse farming.
P
ho
to
b
y
P
ál
l K
ja
rt
an
ss
o
n.
From Flúdir