Is it easy to be a vegetarian in Sweden? While I admit, I am a dedicated dead flesh eater, I think that when it comes to vegetarianism, Sweden is a very accommodating country. At least that’s been my experience when hosting and catering for vegetarian friends.

Almost every restaurant, and even the tiniest sandwich shop I’ve been to clearly mark on their menus all the items suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Some places are more detailed than others, but it seems more or less standard these days to distinguish on menus between “vegetarian” (might include milk, and/or eggs) and “vegan” (no animal products whatsoever) options.

And is vegetarianism (and veganism) widespread in Sweden? Again, I’d have to say “yes”. The popularity of vegetarianism, and even more so – veganism is most prominent in college towns and on university campuses. And that seems to surprise many foreign visitors, because apparently the image of meat-loving Vikings living in a cold, barren country is what comes to people’s minds when they put “Sweden” and “food” in the same sentence.

But what’s been coming to my mind lately is “vegan”. Honestly, either I never paid attention, or I used to hang out with the wrong (steak-loving) crowd, but I’ve never met as many vegans in other countries, as in Sweden. And obviously, all these vegans must eat something, right? So if there are that many of them, veganism can’t be that hard to follow, even in the far north, right?

But as one friendly vegan told me, while it’s not exactly a hardship to be a vegan in Sweden, it’s much easier to be a simple vegetarian.

And even easier to be a person who eats everything, as long as it’s organic (ekologisk). And this, ladies and gentlemen is one of the things that I really admire about Sweden. This country takes its commitment to organic food very seriously. All organic products are labeled with a “KRAV” mark and the standards for assigning this mark are very high.

So basically, no matter what and how you eat, you will not go hungry in Sweden.