Potatoes and apples
Comenius food project, Kontiolahti, Finland
The task for the students was to go to the local supermarket to find out if there were any local products on the market and additionally, whether they could find any international products there. We expanded the project a little and included other products, not only apples and potatoes.There are three different supermarkets in Kontiolahti and the first group visited them all in order to find out about their selection of apples and potatoes. All the other groups went to the biggest market to find out about other products.
There is a chain system in the Finnish supermarkets, which I'd like to explain a little. There are three main chains which all have their own brand and their own products: The S-chain, the K-chain and the Tradeka chain. All the chains also have their own bonus cards and bonus point systems for their customers. It is normal that a person has all the bonus cards that he can use when he visits the different supermarkets. In Kontiolahti there is one supermarket for each chain.
Apples and potatoes by Antti and Sami T.
We visited three different shops and we looked for different apples and potatoes.In K-market we found five apple sorts: Gloster from Germany, Royal Gala from Italy and France, Golden Deli from France and Jonagold from the Netherlands. There were no Finnish apples since it is winter here in Finland and we don't grow apples in greenhouses. Potatoes were Finnish and they were in yellow and red bags. (There is a colour code system in Finland for potatoes where red means potatoes which are good for oven food or mash, and yellow is a regular potato for many kinds of foods.) There was also one sort of potato from Cyprus.
In Valintatalo we found two apple sorts: Golden from France and Ingrid Marie from Germany. We found five different Finnish potato sorts there.
In S-market we found seven apple sorts: Granny Smith from France, Fuji from China, Royal Gala from Austria, Golden and Red Delicious from France, Gloster from Germany and Jonagold from the Netherlands.
Cookies, juices, honey and canned food by Joonas and Sami N.
We went to S-market to check cookies first. There weren't any local cookies but there were many international ones; Griesson and Rainbow. Then we went to check juices. There was one local label called Kontiomehu which makes for example cranberry juice. There were also many international labels such as Ekström's and Rainbow. Then we went to look for honey. There was one local honey label and many international ones. In jams there weren't any local labels but several international ones. In the canned food section there were no local labels but once again several international ones, such as Rainbow and John West.
Bread by Timo
We had to check out local and international food products at the supermarket. My task was bread and flour. So I went to S-market and started with bread. I checked the makers of the breads and the cities were they were made. Here are my results:Local:
Porokylä -breads, from NurmesTrube -breads and bagels, Kuopio
Heinosen leipomo -breads, Joensuu
Herkkuleipomo -bagels, Joensuu
Leipomo Vatruska -bagels, Joensuu
International:
Pågen -breads from Malmö, SwedenAfter a few rounds at the bread counters I went to do the same with flours. After 15 minute working I had information on local and international flour. Here are my results:
Local:
Luomulaatua -organic flours, many kinds, LiperiInternational:
Nutana -maize flour, Bjaeverskov, RussiaShaker (Dutch) -flour
When my task was complete, I was surprised that there weren't many international products, at least not in my food section.
The frozen food department by Sanna and Raita
We went to the frozen food department and found to look for local and international products. Here are some examples:Local
Rainbow's Karelian pies from Finland,Apetit cheese and cream potatoes from Säkylä, Finland,
Vaasan kotiuunin cinnamon rolls from Espoo, Finland.
Findus grill steaks from Finland,
International
Grandiosa pizza from Norway,Rainbow's herb butter baguettes from Germany,
Rainbow's potato strips from Belgium,
Albert von Zoonel's spring wraps from Holland,
X-tra fish pieces from Germany,
Pakkasmarja cranberries from Russia,
Crispy longs French fries from Belgium,
Rainbow strawberries from Poland,
Rainbow giant prawns from Norway,
Well, in our nearest supermarket frozen foods are pretty international as you can see in our list.
Fruits and vegetables by Senni, Veera and Sofia
We went to S-market to look for fruits and vegetables. We found out for example that there were grapefruits, mandarins and avocados from Israel, grapes and plums were from South Africa, and limes and honeydews from Brazil. Apples came from Austria and salad, bell peppers and eggplants from Spain. There were also bell peppers from the Netherlands. Ginger came from China and pineapples from Honduras. We found some vegetables from Finland, like tomatoes and cucumber but there were no local ones.
Meat, sausages and fish by Laura and Sirja
We went to S-market to the fish department. We didn't find anything local there but a few international products. For example mackerel fillet from New Zealand, anchovy fillet from Sweden and Estonia and herrings from Sweden. From the meat department we found chicken from Denmark, pork strips from Sweden and Karjalan paisti (a mixture of pork and beef cubes) from Kitee, Finland (almost local since Kitee is about 90 km from Kontiolahti). Then we went to the sausage and cold cuts department and found wiener schnitzel and bratwursts from Germany and Kalles kaviar (roe paste) from Sweden and of course many Finnish products as well.
Milk products and cheeses by Erja and Mia
We went to S-market to find out about cheeses and other milk products. We found cheddar from Germany, Turkish yoghurt from Germany, Danio products from Denmark, Tiramisu from Italy. All the milk products were from Finland, as well as all the butter. All the eggs were local, from Tohmajärvi. Also Polar and Viola cheeses were local, from Joensuu.
