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The Nordic Times

Polaris of Enlightenment

The Nordic Times

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-eating-habits-differ-between-generations/

Sweden

Swedish eating habits differ between generations

Published August 17, 2024 – By Editorial staff
Pannbiff and raggmunk classic style.
1 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The food Swedes eat differs markedly between younger and older generations. Food researcher Richard Tellström points to a trend in which eating with a knife and fork has become less common.

According to Tellström, the differences in food preferences between generations have never been as great as they are today. This is most evident in what people eat for dinner.

– Evening meals are probably the fastest to change, he told the tax-funded Swedish Broadcasting Corporation (SR). Breakfast is the slowest, but evening meals are very fast, and there is a big difference between young and old.

When SR asked people of different ages what they preferred to eat for supper or dinner, most younger people said sushi, for example, while older people preferred fish with vegetables.

Tellström also believes that food preferences are influenced by what you eat between the ages of one and 25, and that this has a significant impact on eating habits. He predicts that home-cooked meals such as raggmunk (a type of traditional, swedish potato pancake), pannbiff (similar to salisbury steak, often served with lingon berries), and ärtsoppa (pea soup) will disappear from nursing homes by 2080. In general, food eaten with a knife and fork has become less common, in part because many people eat with a cell phone in one hand.

– What you might call knife and fork meals. That kind of food is on its way out, he says.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/residents-in-vulnerable-areas-most-supportive-of-swedens-new-return-grant/

Sweden

Residents in vulnerable areas most supportive of Sweden’s new return grant

Population replacement in the West

Published today 2:57 pm – By Editorial staff
After the Swedish government, together with the Sweden Democrats party, significantly raised the cap for return migration grants, support for receiving the grant is now increasing among certain immigrant groups.
3 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Swedish government's significant increase of the return migration grant at the turn of the year is meeting mixed reactions among the population. A new opinion poll shows that support is strongest among foreign-born residents in so-called vulnerable areas – and weakest among left-wing voters.

At the same time, debate is growing about how the grant should be used and what effects it may have for municipalities and the state.

When the Tidö government (Sweden's center-right coalition government) raises the return migration grant from approximately €900 to €31,000 at the turn of the year, the goal is to encourage more migrants who are deemed difficult to integrate to voluntarily return to their countries of origin.

The reform has created extensive political debate, not least after several red-green (left-wing) municipalities indicated their opposition to the measure.

This has led representatives from the Tidö parties and the Sweden Democrats to question whether state support should continue to municipalities that do not participate in the program.

Now a new survey from Indikator Opinion, commissioned by the Järvaveckan Foundation, shows that support for the significantly increased grant varies greatly between different groups.

Support varies greatly

According to the survey, attitudes are significantly more positive among foreign-born residents living in vulnerable areas than in the rest of the country.

In these areas, 39 percent say they are positive about an increased return migration grant, while 30 percent are negative. In the rest of the country – including both native Swedes and immigrants – the proportion of positive responses is 27 percent and the proportion of negative responses is 38 percent.

The most positive group is migrants who have lived in Sweden for less than five years and who also live in vulnerable areas. There, 46 percent say they view the grant increase positively.

Ahmed Abdirahman, CEO of the Järvaveckan Foundation, believes the reaction says something important about how people experience their situation in Sweden.

— That support for an increased return migration grant is greater among foreign-born residents in vulnerable areas may seem surprising at first glance. But the results show how complex the question of integration is. I see it as a sign that we need to talk more about opportunities, not just about benefits. When people don't feel included in nation-building, the willingness to consider other alternatives also increases, he says.

Right-wing voters more positive

The survey also shows large differences between different party sympathies. Among Sweden Democrats' voters, 47 percent are positive about the grant increase, while the corresponding proportion among Christian Democrats' voters is 45 percent.

The least support is found among Left Party and Green Party sympathizers, where a majority view the government's direction negatively.

Per Oleskog Tryggvason, opinion director at Indikator Opinion, emphasizes that the proposal is still unpopular among broader segments of voters.

— A significantly increased return migration grant is a relatively unpopular proposal among Swedish voters – clearly more people think it's bad than think it's good. Even though the proposal is significantly more popular among the Tidö parties' voters, there is a considerable proportion of right-wing voters who are skeptical. Based on these figures, it doesn't appear to be an election-winning proposal, he says.

The grant increase takes effect at the turn of the year. How many people will actually choose to apply remains to be seen – interest has been lukewarm so far, but the government hopes the new amount will change the situation.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/culture/unique-discovery-found-in-viking-grave/

Culture

Unique discovery found in Viking grave

Published November 14, 2025 – By Editorial staff
3 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

A skeleton from the Viking Age has been found in Norway with burial details that have never before been documented in pre-Christian graves in the Nordic region. The find has led archaeologists to work in secret, and now DNA analyses will provide answers to the mystery surrounding the woman from the 800s.

The discovery was made in Bjugn in Trøndelag, central Norway, after Roy Søreng was searching with a metal detector in a field in Val earlier this year. When he found a belt buckle, a typical ornament from the Viking Age, he contacted the authorities.

Archaeologists from NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet (the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Museum of Natural History and Archaeology) and Trøndelag municipality then began work at the site where they were able to confirm that it was a grave.

— The Viking Age grave contains what we believe is a woman, buried with typical Viking Age dress and jewelry from the 800s. This indicates that she was a free and probably married woman, perhaps the mistress of the farm, said senior engineer Raymond Sauvage at the Department of Archaeology and Cultural History at Vitenskapsmuseet in a press release.

Remarkable find

The work has since continued in secret because the find was deemed so significant. Now the archaeologists reveal that they found jewelry consisting of two oval brooches that fastened the straps of the pinafore dress, as well as a small ring brooch that closed the neck opening of the undergarment. It was one of these brooches that Søreng originally discovered. The skeleton was also very well preserved.

But the most remarkable aspect is what was found at the dead woman's mouth.

— The most remarkable thing is two scallop shells placed at the deceased's mouth. This is a practice not previously known from pre-Christian graves in Norway. We don't yet know what the symbolism means, said Sauvage.

The burial custom with shells did not become common until approximately 300-400 years later, and pre-Christian graves with shells have never before been found in Scandinavia, Sauvage explains.

— We must try to find out what significance this had, he told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

Second find in a short time

The shells were positioned with the curved side outward and the straight edge upward, so that they partially covered the mouth. Along the grave, the researchers also found small bird bones, probably from wings.

During the Viking Age, burials were ritual stagings where jewelry, clothing and grave goods expressed status and identity. The deceased was displayed with dress, bedding and symbolic objects to create a strong memory and emphasize the family's social position.

Earlier this year, another grave was found in the same field, dated to the 700s. The next step is to DNA-analyze the find to learn more about the woman in the grave, including whether she may be related to the person in the other grave.

— We will examine the skeleton, preserve the objects and take samples for dating and DNA analysis. The goal is to learn more about the person and, if possible, kinship to the earlier find from the same location, said Sauvage.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-public-health-agency-wants-to-classify-red-fly-agaric-as-narcotics/

Sweden

Swedish Public Health Agency wants to classify red fly agaric as narcotics

Published November 14, 2025 – By Editorial staff
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Products containing muscimol from fly agaric mushrooms have become increasingly popular and are often sold as natural medicine. Now the Swedish Public Health Agency (Folkhälsomyndigheten) wants the government to stop the trade by classifying the substance as narcotics.

The fly agaric has long been regarded as a symbol of poisonous mushrooms, but it is not quite as toxic as the destroying angel (Amanita virosa) – which is deadly. Historically, the fly agaric is said to have been used by Siberian shamans, among others, to alter their state of consciousness in order to establish contact with the spirit world in rituals.

In Sweden during the 1800s, people hardly ate any mushrooms at all, but the fly agaric was still considered useful as it was used as an insecticide against flies, from which it also got its name. When food became scarce for Swedes, authorities tried to encourage more mushroom consumption, which briefly led to a group of mushroom enthusiasts claiming that the fly agaric was edible, something that Populär Historia has written about. During the 1970s, the mushroom began to acquire its bad reputation after new knowledge about mushroom species began to take shape.

Poses a risk

Muscimol is a psychoactive substance that can produce sedative and hallucinogenic effects, and today the substance is often promoted by so-called alternative health groups as a remedy for sleep disorders, among other things. So-called retreats are even organized where participants ingest the mushroom in ceremonial settings.

Now the Swedish Public Health Agency wants to classify the substance as narcotics. According to the agency, the substance is currently available for purchase as candy and in e-cigarettes through various online stores, and they emphasize that the mushroom is poisonous and that people are exposing themselves to risk. In addition to relatively common symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and hallucinations, there are reports of people falling into comas after taking the preparation.

— It has properties that pose a danger to people's lives and health and which can be assumed to be used for the purpose of achieving intoxication, said Adli Assali, head of unit at the Swedish Public Health Agency, to P3 Nyheter.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned trade in muscimol at the end of last year. This summer, the Swedish Public Health Agency initiated its own investigation following a request from the Swedish Customs Service (Tullverket), which had seized the substance at border controls. The Swedish government will now decide whether the substance should be classified as narcotics in Sweden.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-prison-service-opposes-plan-to-lower-criminal-age-to-13/

Sweden

Swedish Prison Service opposes plan to lower criminal age to 13

Published November 12, 2025 – By Editorial staff
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Swedish government's proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 is facing strong criticism. In its consultation response, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården) states that it is not equipped to receive such young children in prison and that they should be cared for in other ways.

By July 1 next year, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service is expected to have built prison units for children where both 15–17-year-olds and 13–14-year-olds convicted of serious crimes will serve sentences. At the same time, places at the special youth homes (SiS homes, state-run institutions for youth care) will be phased out.

In the consultation response, the Prison and Probation Service writes that imprisonment at a young age can lead to negative consequences, and that children "as young as 13 should be cared for in other ways".

— These concerns become more significant the younger the children in question are, says Elisabeth Lager, acting legal director, to TT.

The Prison and Probation Service is clear that the organization does not have the required resources. It lacks both the expertise and suitable facilities to handle children as young as 13 within prisons, detention centers, or community-based sanctions such as probation. Practical issues such as education must also be addressed. At the same time, it is noted that the level of the age of criminal responsibility is ultimately a political matter.

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer writes that the government will "carefully analyze all consultation responses". He emphasizes that society must "care for children in a completely different way than today" in cases of the most serious crimes, both to protect victims and society, but also the children themselves.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com