In the event of a crisis or war in Sweden, Vilhelmina municipality has now made an agreement with Vilhelmina Norra Samiby and Vilhelmina Södra Samiby.
It means that the municipality can call off 3,000 kilos of reindeer meat from the Sami villages within the municipality to ensure food for the municipality’s care, school and care.
– This increases our crisis preparedness to a very high degree as the raw material is available locally. An advantage is also that our own kitchens can prepare this, and there are also great opportunities to vary this raw material, says Karl-Johan Ottosson, head of the municipality, in a press release.
“Raises the status of reindeer husbandry”
The Sami villages are positive to the agreement where the calving period during May, June and July is exempt from it.
– This is really a matter of course if you think about it, and we have talked a little loosely about it on other occasions as well. So when Karl-Johan came up with this proposal, it sounded very reasonable to my ears, says Jonas Stinnerbom, chairman of Vilhelmina Norra Samiby
His fellow chairman Mathias Blind, Vilhelmina södra Samiby, also emphasizes that this can raise the status of the reindeer industry.
– An agreement like this raises the status of reindeer husbandry as a profession and reindeer as a raw material. It is good that reindeer husbandry is in demand and that we can help in a crisis, with a completely locally produced resource that is on site. In this way, people might start to see us more for what we are – that we are producers and not just something that stands in the way of exploitation, cars or scooters, he says.