The Uppsala potato project brings together around 50 households in Håga, near Uppsala, to grow enough potatoes to last up to a year, linking local food preparedness with community-building at a time of war, climate risks and renewed attention to Sweden’s civil defence.
On a field outside the city, families have planted rows of potatoes as part of a shared cultivation initiative. According to SVT, each participating household is expected to receive between 70 and 140 kilograms of potatoes, depending on the harvest. The crop will later be stored at a nearby school, effectively creating a small local potato bank for the families involved.
Kathrin Theelen, one of the participants, told SVT that the project is mainly about doing something together with others. Her family is among those taking part in the initiative, which combines practical food production with a form of everyday civic resilience.
A local potato bank in Håga
The project is taking place on around 1,000 square metres of land in Håga, an area just outside Uppsala. The land has been lent by a local farmer, while several associations are behind the initiative, including Godahemnätverket.
The idea is simple: families share the work of cultivation and later share the harvest. The potatoes are expected to cover up to one year of consumption for each participating household, although the final amount will depend on weather, growing conditions and the success of the crop.
Agronomist William Whitman, one of the initiators, told SVT that the aim is to give people more control over their own potato production. He also described the project as a way to increase the city’s self-sufficiency and make cultivation accessible to more residents.
Food preparedness becomes an everyday issue in Sweden
The Uppsala initiative fits into a broader Swedish debate on food preparedness. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Nordic countries have paid greater attention to civil defence, supply chains and household resilience. Sweden has also strengthened public communication on crisis readiness, including advice for households to prepare food, water, communication and heating for at least one week.
Food is a central part of this discussion. Swedish public guidance recommends keeping food at home that provides enough energy, can be stored at room temperature and requires little water or cooking. Potatoes, cabbage, onions and other basic foods are often presented as practical examples because they are affordable, familiar and easy to use in everyday meals.
The Uppsala project does not replace national food policy or municipal preparedness planning. It shows, however, how national concerns can translate into small-scale local action. Instead of focusing only on emergency stocks, the initiative also builds practical skills, shared routines and social ties.
Community farming as civic resilience
The project’s organisers frame the potato field not only as a food project, but also as a community project. Participants work together, learn from one another and build a local network around food production. This matters because preparedness is not only about storage and infrastructure. It also depends on trust, cooperation and the ability of residents to act collectively.
In Sweden, civil preparedness is based on a shared responsibility between public authorities, businesses, municipalities and individuals. Households are expected to manage their immediate needs during disruptions, while public institutions focus on maintaining essential services. Local cultivation projects like the one in Håga sit between these levels: they are voluntary, community-led and small in scale, but connected to a wider understanding of resilience.
This makes the Uppsala potato project part of a broader Nordic pattern. Across the region, food security, local production and civil defence are increasingly discussed together. The Nordic model of preparedness often relies not only on state capacity, but also on high levels of social trust and participation.
A small harvest with a wider Nordic meaning
The Uppsala potato field is modest in size, but it points to a larger shift in how preparedness is being understood in Sweden. War in Europe, climate change and fragile supply chains have made food security a more visible public issue. At the same time, local initiatives show that preparedness can also mean cooperation, shared labour and practical knowledge.
For the families involved, the result may be a year’s supply of potatoes. For Uppsala, the project offers a small experiment in urban self-sufficiency. For Sweden and the wider Nordic region, it reflects a growing effort to connect food preparedness, local resilience and community life before a crisis arrives.
