Conditions aren’t friendly in the Faroe Islands for growing food. Raked by North Atlantic winds and nibbled by thousands of sheep, the nearly treeless islands have poor soil and little room for planting. Potatoes and rhubarb are local staples.

But some residents have had enough of importing almost all their food from the rest of Europe and beyond. Many products are stamped with the flag of Denmark, under which the islands are self-governing.

There are efforts to grow more adventurous crops like kale, seen as hardy elsewhere in the world, and to promote local products—from seaweed to meat and fish “fermented” by the salty air.

That work can be seen in the Faroese capital of Torshavn, where the tiny farmers’ market is held one Sunday a month for much of the year. In September, a few stalls offered meats, bags of kale and cabbage, and seasoned salt next to the overcast harbor.

The vegetables were priced at around 40 Faroese krona (over $6) per bag, a reminder of the high prices for food in the remote islands whose closest neighbors are Iceland, Scotland, and Norway.

Cups of soup made from fermented local radishes—and imported beans—sold for 75 krona (over $11), with a piece of bread.

The farmers’ market is part of Matkovin, a project set up by a local couple to promote food producers. It notes the growing international interest in Faroese food, including a Michelin-starred restaurant and a network of home-cooked meals for tourists called “heimablidni.”

“There is a divide, though, between this romantic vision of the Faroese food culture and the everyday state of things, where the majority of our food is imported from faraway countries,” the project says. It adds, “Few Faroese foods are available in the shops, and we are never told where the producer of these foods is located. The Faroese food producer is invisible.”

Some Faroese said the COVID-19 pandemic and its shocks to the supply chain raised serious questions about food security, along with a large labor strike in May 2024 in the islands that led to rationing.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.