Wild berries in Finland

The bright Northern summer ripens a luscious harvest of berries in the forests and bogs every year, which anyone who spends time in nature can benefit from. Even a relatively poor crop will yield approximately 100 kg, or 20 buckets, of wild berries per person in Finland. Approximately 50 varieties of wild berries grow in Finland, of which 37 are edible. Of these, around 20 varieties are suitable for picking and consumption. The best known and commercially most valuable berries are lingonberries, crowberries, bilberries, cloudberries, raspberries, cranberries and sea buckthorn.

The annual crop of forest berries is estimated at over 500 million kg, while the amount picked only adds up to about 3–10% of the entire crop in the case of lingonberries and bilberries, for example. An average of eight kilograms of wild berries per person is consumed per year in Finland. The proportion of berries in our diet should be increased, as berries are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and polyphenols *).

You can satisfy a considerable portion of your daily need for vitamin C and obtain important minerals and trace elements, fibre, and polyphenols to help you stay healthy by eating 100 grams of berries. Berries taste good and are a light snack, suitable also for anyone who is dieting. Eating berries will help limit your daily calorie intake. Wild berries are a natural product of the forest, free for anyone to pick without the need for farming equipment, fertilizers or insecticides.

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*) Polyphenols are chemical compounds that occur in plants. The polyphenols are the active substances that counteract oxidation and fight cancer cells.