Lycksele municipality in northern Sweden has launched an innovative crisis preparedness initiative by freeze-drying leftover school food for emergency storage. According to a report from Dagens Nyheter, the municipality has purchased a machine to freeze-dry surplus school meals, which are then vacuum-packed to last up to 25 years.
Food chief Klaus Dudenhöfer stated that the freeze-dried food will be stored at a secret location. 'The food will be stored at a secret place,' Dudenhöfer said. The municipality primarily freeze-dries pasta sauce, chili con carne, and 'cowboy soup,' with the goal of building a three-month food reserve for crisis situations.
The food will be stored at a secret place
The initiative comes as the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) reports that nearly one in three municipalities lacks a plan for providing meals to preschools, schools, and elderly care during crises or war. Lycksele borrowed the idea from Linköping municipality, which has purchased about twenty such machines.
According to the report, it will take Lycksele seven years to build up their freeze-dried food stockpile using only one machine and existing food surplus. The municipality has also implemented a 'cow on the hoof' program, purchasing calves from local farmers to support local businesses and provide meat for school and elderly care meals.
Uppsala municipality is cited as having made significant progress in crisis preparedness, with a national estimate suggesting it would cost approximately 1.5 billion kronor over five years if all Swedish municipalities followed Uppsala's example.