Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an unconventional model of agriculture expected to contribute to a more sustainable food supply and a sustainable landscape; the development of rural areas; a stronger relationship between producer and consumer and a healthier diet. This study, with a focus on food production and the link between the producer and consumer, describes the origin and current development of CSA in Sweden, including the prerequisites for CSA in a Swedish context. Organizations and entrepreneurs working with CSA and related projects are identified and interviewed. The notion of CSA in Sweden is still in its infancy, but a rapidly growing interest currently can be detected. The fact that the identified CSAs are found in different Swedish regions with variations in degree of urbanization and intensity of agriculture indicates that the prerequisites are there for the concept to grow, both in rural as well as urban areas.

Decomposition of organic matter is a critical process in the ecosystem, which involves many essential biotic and physical parts. Decomposition is therefore an important process both above and below ground. The rate of decomposition is dependent of many environmental factors for example: pH, moisture and supply of oxygen. The decomposition can therefore be affected by large scaled environmental influences, such as acidification and climatic changes. The root litter in the forest is in different ways affected by acidification, liming and manuering.

As a part of the fight against the global warming the energy production needs to be more efficient and redirected towards sustainable options. One alternative is cogeneration, which means that electricity and heat is produced in one plant. The purpose with this survey is to examine if there are any commercial available combined heat and power techniques, based on combustion of solid moist biomass, which are suitable to small-scale applications. The technique must be able to produce between 2 and 10 MW thermal and the heat demand is a Swedish district-heating system. When already published reports had been studied, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) was chosen as the most suitable technique.

Every year 67000 tons of food is wasted by Swedish retail stores. The waste implies financial losses for the retailer and it has a huge impact on the global environment. Reducing in-store food waste is thus a win-win situation for both retailers and society. The most effective way to reduce waste is primarily by optimizing the logistics of supply, but customers expect a store with a wide range of products and stuffed shelves. Thus there will always be products about to expire.

Because of the increasing trends in energy consumption and increased environmental awareness, greater focus has been placed on improvement and development of renewable energy sources. An already proven and accepted method is biogas production from anaerobic digestion at municipal wastewater treatment plants.In the waste water treatment process solid material and dissolved pollutants are separated from the water, forming a sludge. The sludge is separated from the process and stabilized during anaerobic digestion or aerobic aeration. Most often, mesophilic anaerobic digestion is used. Because of degradation by microorganisms, biogas with a high content of methane is formed during the digestion.

Today a lot of consumer and media interest lie in food production. Food is something everyone of us has a relationship to hence foodstuff and their making is a topic of current interest.Cattle?s rearing is one of many factors that have begun to play a bigger role when consumersare selecting beef from the shops? meat counters. This may well be a result of productdiversification and greater investments towards marketing. Many cattle rearers considerseveral grounds for added values being linked to their products and consumers are becomingmore aware of these primary sector related added values.

Term: Spring term 2007Study objects: Reitan Servicehandel AB, Vi-butikerna, ICA Sverige ABPurpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse how procurement is used as a strategy to achieve better competitive strength, within the retail food industry.Theoretical: The theoretical chapter illustrates different procurement organisations, multiple and single sourcing, brand equity, consumer behaviour and involvement, Efficient Consumer Response including supply chain and category management and finally Demand Chain Management.Method: For the case studies, three food retail companies have been interviewed: Reitan Servicehandel AB, Vi-butikerna and ICA AB. To illustrate how consumer behaviour influences retail food market, several secondary consumer research studies have been analysed.Conclusions: The results indicate that the procurement organisation can achieve a better competitive strength by a centralised organisation, which make it possible to improve conditions of terms when ordering higher purchase volumes. The sourcing strategies can improve a company?s power within the supply chain. All companies within the study had a very good knowledge about consumer behaviour.

Russian comfrey, Symphytum x uplandicum, was tested as a plant nutrient source in a trial with tomatoes. Comfrey liquid was produced by Stiftelsen Holma i Höör. Tomato plants of the cultivar Aromata planted in a medium of soil:peat (1:1) enriched with organic nutrients and lime, were fed with comfrey liquid plus Biofer, in three different concentrations. Two different concentrations of BioRika were used as comparison, along with an unfertilized control group. In the comfrey treatment I a total amont of 1g N, 0,23 g P, 0,84 g K, was given to the tomatoes.

Abstract Denna uppsats behandlar frågeställningar kring konsumenters motivation och kvalitetsupplevelse i samband med köp och konsumtion av Functional Food. Vi har genomgående i uppsatsen haft ett konsument- och ett producentperspektiv för att kunna identifiera skillnader som kan föreligga mellan dessa två. På så sätt utröner vi om konsumentens kvalitetsupplevelse stämmer överens med de mervärden som producenten vill förmedla. Vi har även kartlagt vilka faktorer som motiverar konsumenter till köp av en Functional Food. Till vår hjälp i den empiriska del som grundar sig på kvalitativa djupintervjuer med ladderingteknik har vi haft tillgång till ProViva Active.

This study forms part of the R&D project "Improved survival of bird chicks in organic fields" managed by the Rural Economy & Agricultural society in Uppsala. The skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a species that has decreased drastically in Sweden as a consequence of more intensive cropping. Studies in England have shown that skylark reproduction can be greatly improved within conventional fields, at a low cost, by establishing patches of bare ground (skylark plots). Within conventional farming, herbicides can be used in case a weed problem arises due to implementation of these skylark plots, whereas this is not allowed in organic farming. This study examined the effects of skylark plots on the weed culture in organic autumn-sown (winter) cereals and whether weeds might cause long-term problems to farmers. The study was conducted in two parts; a field study and a review of the literature regarding the weeds observed. The field study was carried out in 2007 during three weeks in June and three weeks in July, on eleven organic fields with winter cereal in the vicinity of Uppsala.

According to The National Board of Health and Welfare, about 200 000 elderly persons get some help or support with eating or nutrition problems. This was approximately 2 percent of the population. Older people in sheltered accommodation in community care were not able to manage their own nutrition. The older people were dependent on the food that was offered to them, when and how the food was served. This was a specific responsibility for the nursing staff.

The purpose of this study was to describe the possibility of implementing a lacto-ovo-vegetarian and organic diet in Eskilstuna municipality?s public preschool. Furthermore the purpose was to identify and describe the most important components involved in the implementation and their influence in the process.  The methods used were a survey based on a literature study. This study includes general information about meat production and consumption and also the use of pesticides in farming. It also brings up the environmental and health effects caused by the previously mentioned areas.

The focus of this study was to examine the nutrients and benthic organisms of the bay ?Mönsteråsviken?, which is influenced by eutrophication. The purpose was also to look at an interesting gradient forming in the bay, namely the distance from the river outflow of Lillån. At 18 sampling sites in the bay samples of water, sediments and benthic organisms were collected in late April of 2011. The water was analyzed for nitrate, phosphate and chlorophyll.

Tritordeum is the result of a cross between a wild barley (Hordeum chilense) and durum wheat (Triticum turgidum). Tritordeum have high viscosity and a nice yellow colour. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate Tritordeum lines HT 354, HT 361, HT 437, HT 2218 (JB3) and HT 1608 (JB1) for use as a new raw material within the food industry. Analyses made were on dietary fibre, fructan, ash, water content and colour. Compilation of data from analyses made for Agrasys an Agri-Food company in Barcelona having the commercial rights to Tritordeum, included Lutein and rheological properties.

All over the world the waste from human society is causing problems. In developing countries, large cities are polluted through huge amounts of wastes and people are forced to live very close to open deposits. Lima, capital of Peru, is no exception. The countryside in Peru has also a great challenge to face concerning the waste issue. Children and adults suffer from infectious diseases and contamination of the nature occurs as well. One solution to handle organic waste is to compost, which means a controlled decomposition of organic waste under aerobic conditions at certain temperatures.