**3. Results**

#### *3.1. Industrial and Traditional Social Metabolism on the Faroes*

Prior to around 1950, Faroese society was sustained to a large degree by material and energy flows originating within its geographical borders. After 1950, as the Faroes have been increasingly incorporated into the wider and emerging extractive global economy and global food system, the size of material and energy flows crossing its geographical borders has increased dramatically. The Faroese economy is a very clear example of how inclusion into the global market and the development of an export-oriented industry, in this case fisheries, has led to growing per capita levels of material and energy use. During the 20th century total catch figures grew from an estimated 1200 tons in 1903 to more than 700,000 tons in 2017 [49] (Figure 1). Per capita, fish catches went from 80 kg in 1903 to almost 14 tons in 2017, corresponding to a 175-fold increase. A large proportion of this catch is exported, more than 500,000 tons in 2017, corresponding to more than 10 tons per capita. In the quarter century between 1993 and 2017 total physical exports grew from 176,000 tons in 1993 to 589,093 tons in 2017 [50]. Physical export in 2017 corresponds to more than 11 tons per capita. In comparison, physical export in the EU is approximately 1 ton per capita [51].

**Figure 1.** Total Faroese fisheries catch in the century between 1903 and 2003. Adapted from Jákupstovu [49].

The revenues from these high levels of export enable a high material standard of living in the Faroes, but as has been the case for many other island societies, it has also created dependence on imports to sustain basic human needs and modern economic functions [12]. Revenues likewise enable large investments and build-up of industrial infrastructure. Much of this infrastructure requires high levels of resource and energy use to be sustained and to maintain productivity, and the fossil fuel requirements of Faroese industrial fisheries are very high. Generally speaking, the energy e fficiency performance of industrial fisheries has worsened over time [52], and as fish stocks are becoming overexploited, greater e ffort and energy inputs are required. In 2018, the fishing fleet contributed 44% of total Faroese CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Another 6% of emissions can also be attributed to the fishing fleet through the use of greenhouse gases in cooling systems and other industrial processes. Emissions from fisheries have increased from approximately 200,000 tons in 1990 to more than 500,000 tons in 2018 [53]. Export revenues similarly enable imports of all kinds of artefacts and consumer goods. Statistics on physical imports are not available, but statistical information on CO2 emissions and waste production may be seen as indicators of a high import level, since most consumption goods and all fossil energy are imported. A portion of these goods accumulates in capital stocks (people, livestock, and infrastructure), and the rest dissipates into various kinds of pollution and waste. CO2 emissions were as high as approximately 20 tons per capita in 2017 [54], and waste production in the same year was more than 1 ton per capita [55]. In comparison, the production of municipal waste in Europe was 486 kg per capita in 2017 [56] (See Figure 2 and Table 1).

**Figure 2.** Growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in CO2 equivalents and total physical exports since the early 1990s. Source: Statistics Faroe Islands and the Faroese Environment Agency.

The dramatic increase in CO2 emissions and in fish biomass extracted from the sea (illustrated in Figures 1 and 2) attest to the increasing flows of exhaustible resources required to sustain these industrial processes and the resulting net increase in social metabolism.

**Table 1.** Socio-metabolic characteristics of the Faroe Islands for European and global comparison for the year 2017.


Sources: Environment Agency of the Faroe Islands, Eurostat, and the World Bank.

The argumen<sup>t</sup> pursued in this paper is that the informal or diverse economy, carried out by people engaging in practices of "quiet sustainability," should not be ignored or neglected as part of the solution to the sustainability challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and more generally, of reducing net social metabolism, as well as of conserving and enhancing biodiversity. Dominant discourses on economy and sustainability in the Faroes are governed by an ideology of growth, an ideology that is in turn materializing in growing social metabolism. However, alongside or parallel to this "real" industrial economy is the alternative or diverse economy, which is arguably governed by di fferent logics and moral principles. The practices associated with the alternative economy are not necessarily framed as sustainable, often quite the contrary, they are considered backward and unnecessary. Informal and non-commercial food provisioning practices are not seen as alternatives to industrially based production and consumption, and they are mostly either ignored or neglected in policy and physical planning. Many of these practices of quiet sustainability in the Faroes are rooted in the traditional land managemen<sup>t</sup> system.

The system and cultural principles organizing traditional Faroese society and social metabolism is often referred to as the infield/outfield system. The cultivated infields surrounding the villages were cleared and marked from the outfields with stonewalls and were used to produce hay for winter fodder for the cows. It has been estimated that around 85–90% of the infield was used for making hay [57]. The remaining plots were cultivated with barley and swedes. Manure was collected and used in the barley plots that were worked using the practice of *reinavelting* (Faroese words in this text are in italics). This form of tilling, using only hand power, improved the productivity of the land and increased grass yields in the following years. The practice of *reinavelting*, first mentioned in historical sources from the 17th century, seems to have been a method exceptionally well adapted to the Faroese geography and climate to grow barley under very limiting climatic circumstances, to avoid soil erosion, and for improving the quality of the soil [58].

The outfields were used for grazing. Sheep grazed all year round, and the cattle grazed from around May or June until October and were kept in the byre during winter. Based on the information in farmers journals and other historical material, Guttesen [57,59–62] has suggested that dairy production constituted more than 40% of caloric intake. Imported grain made up close to 25%, and locally grown grain made up 8%. Although sheep rearing and sheep products had high cultural prestige, it contributed less than 20% to the diet, and fish was only 8%. These staple food items were supplemented with whale, seal, and seabird. The percentages presented above should of course be taken with caution, and there will have been significant variety during di fferent time periods and in di fferent geographic locations in the islands, but it underlines the importance of dairy production for food security in traditional Faroese society. Trade with the outside world was, however, always an element of the Faroese economy. In return for fish and/or wool products, the Faroese imported grain, which was a staple in the Faroese diet, timber, which was always in shortage on the treeless islands, soapstone, and a number of luxury goods [63].

In many respects, Faroese society, from settlement and up until around 1800 can be seen as an example of a steady state economy. After settlement, the population is believed to have steadily increased up until around 3000–4000 people and to have remained stable for the next five centuries. The land, and what it produced, was divided and organized in units of value, which ultimately measured the material stocks and flows comprising Faroese society in *mørk, gyllin* and *skinn. Mørk,* *gyllin* and *skinn* were traditional measures of land area, weight, and value, and they continue to govern traditionally rooted food provisioning practices. One *mørk* is 16 *gyllin*, and one *gyllin* is 20 *skinn*. One *skinn* was the value of a sheepskin, and one *mørk* of land could sustain between 40 and 48 sheep. Half a *mørk* was the minimum requirement to sustain a family. As all land and resources were measured according to this system, the total number of *mørk* was the calculated and culturally negotiated carrying capacity of traditional Faroese society [64].

#### *3.2. The Sustainable Roots of Current Faroese Land Use Management Practices*

From a long-term socio-ecological perspective, it makes sense to divide Faroese history into three periods. The first period runs from the initial settlement of the islands around 300 AD and up until around 1300 AD, when the so-called Sheep Letter *Seyðabrævið*, a royal decree dating to 1298 AD, codified land managemen<sup>t</sup> practices that came to dominate and regulate Faroese society during the following centuries and largely into the modern period. The third period is the period of modernization setting off around 1800 and during which Faroese society and economy underwent fundamental changes, going from an agrarian regime to an industrial regime.

It is uncertain when the Faroes were first settled and by whom, but archaeological evidence dates settlement back to around 300 AD. During the 8th and 9th centuries, historical records document the arrival of Norse migrants who brought with them their agricultural and cultural traditions. The first settlement period indicates a larger reliance on the hunting of seals, whales, seabirds, while the grazing lands were used as a common-pool resource to manage herds of sheep, cattle, and pigs [65,66]. Around 1300, there is evidence of a restructuring of land managemen<sup>t</sup> and the establishment of the so-called infield/outfield system. Analyses of the historical ecology of the Faroes have shown that the Faroese adopted a distinct approach to economy and land managemen<sup>t</sup> early on, investing in landesque capital that improved agricultural yields and largely avoided deterioration of grazing lands [67]. The infield/outfield model also governed sustainable catches of wild seabirds and fish, whale, and seal, thus creating a sustainable cultural landscape.

The Sheep Letter probably reinforced and formalized the control of resources by the landowner elite, allowing regulation of resource exploitation and enforcing certain restrictions on the access to common resources. These managemen<sup>t</sup> practices were remarkably e fficient in avoiding so-called "tragedies of the commons," and the managemen<sup>t</sup> system must be defined as a successful commons governance regime [68,69]. To acknowledge this achievement should not be understood as any kind of glorification of traditional Faroese society as these managemen<sup>t</sup> practices entailed economic and social inequalities. Social power, hierarchy, and access to resources was intimately associated with land ownership. However, although the system manifested inherent social di fferences between people, there is evidence that people are likely to have had adequate access to food regardless of their social status [69]. Everyone also had the right to cut peat, which was the only fuel source in the Faroes [63]. Nevertheless, there were also periods of starvation. The reliance on a variety of food sources and production systems (herding, hunting, gathering and cultivation) made Faroese society relatively resilient, but when one or more of these sources failed, and it co-occurred with insu fficient imports of grain, people starved. One such period was reported for the years 1808 and 1809 when the grain harvest was poor, fish catches were limited, and there were no pilot whale catches for a period of many years.

#### *3.3. From an Agrarian to an Industrial Socio-Metabolic Regime*

In 1801 the population had reached 5000 people and systematic e fforts to change the traditional production system were pushed by the colonial authorities in order to intensify and increase production. The introduction of potato cultivation (which eventually replaced barley cultivation and the practice of *reinavelting*), the appropriation of tracts of the outfields for cultivation, and the systematic attempts to establish an export-oriented fishing industry were colonial projects, which were met with considerable local protest and resistance [70,71]. With the changes occurring during the 19th century, with a

considerable portion of the outfields taken into cultivation, the traditional balance between the infield and the outfield was disrupted. The new cultivated plots were the so called *traðir* and the people who cultivated them emerged as a new social category of people, *traðarmenn* (men of the cultivated plot), formerly landless people, who were now able to feed themselves. This social category did not have access to the outfield grazing areas and other land-based resources, but fishing was open-access and everyone also had rights to whale meat. The cow was still the crucial element in food security, and one cow per family or one cow between two families, supplemented with fishing and potato cultivation, provided the required caloric base for poor families. The *traðir* may be seen as a form of urban gardening developing during the 19th century and as a source of resilience for long-term urban food security [72,73].

Although, as has already been stressed, this traditional land and resource managemen<sup>t</sup> system is not considered part of the "real" formal economy, it continues to operate alongside the industrial system, and it continues to provide people with food and other services. Only two food provisioning practices in the Faroes have become fully industrialized and mechanized; fisheries and dairy production. The traditional form of fishing in the Faroes was *útróður*, which was carried out in wooden oar boats. Cod fishing, for instance, was typically carried out in wooden boats fitting eight rowers *áttamannafar*, and resources from the sea were common and open access [63]. Fisheries became the main industry in the Faroes during the 20th century, but the practice of *útróður*, that is, small-scale coastal fisheries, has continued, both as a commercial practice and as a household and community food provisioning practice. In a census of the Faroese population carried out in 2011, 28% of Faroese households were reported to have access to a boat [74]. There is little doubt that *útróður* and other non-commercial and informal modes of food provisioning and distribution contribute significantly to the Faroese diet, but making estimates is di fficult, so it is not included in this analysis. However, with the commercialization and marketization of fisheries, direct access to fish has declined for some groups or sections of people in the Faroes. Paradoxically, although catch figures have increased dramatically during the past century, direct access to fish has been reduced.

While the industrial exploitation of the marine environment is largely oriented towards export, industrial agriculture is oriented towards supplying the local Faroese market. Dairy production is the only part of Faroese agriculture that has become fully commercialized and incorporated into the formal market economy. Dairy production in the Faroes was 148 L per capita in 2017 or 0.4 L per day per capita, corresponding well with daily recommended intake. The Faroes are therefore more or less self-su fficient in this respect, but production has become centralized with fewer and fewer producers and more mechanization, and increasingly dependent upon imported feed and fossil energy. From a biodiversity perspective, industrialization has entailed a replacement of endemic livestock breeds with imported breeds suited for industrial milk production. Endemic breeds were smaller and better adapted to the Faroese landscape [75], and contributed to the improvement of grazing pastures.

#### *3.4. Quantifying Practices of Quiet Sustainability*

The resource managemen<sup>t</sup> practices and principles that have co-evolved from the human–nature interaction on the Faroes throughout the centuries have proven remarkably resilient. Allowing flexibility and building on intimate local knowledge, these community level managemen<sup>t</sup> systems continue to benefit Faroese people today [69]. The practices, or habits, descending from this system are visible in the daily practices of quiet sustainability in the Faroes; the cultivation of potatoes and rhubarb in gardens or *traðir*, sheep rearing, fowling, and hunting. These are all practices that a large proportion of Faroese people engage in, some on a daily basis, others less frequently. More than 70% of the population have been reported to have "supplemented food source available" [74], indicating that a very large percentage of the population engage in self-provisioning food practices or at least benefit from them. It is outside the scope of this paper to estimate the total production of "quiet sustainability" practices in the Faroes. In the following, estimates are made for selected informal economic practices and results are summarized in Table 2.


**Table 2.** Estimated contribution of informal food provisioning practices. Figures refer to estimated average annual production during the past decades and do not refer to any specific year. Per capita calculations are based on a total population figure of 50,000 people.

 1 Sources to the figures are provided in the text.

## 3.4.1. Sheep Rearing

Sheep rearing in the Faroes is to a large extent still based on the principles codified in the Sheep Letter more than seven centuries ago. Sheep rearing is largely non-commercial and organized by community or kinship, and sheep meat is not exported but consumed locally. The most commonly quoted figures on sheep numbers in the Faroes is that there are 70,000 mother sheep, and that 50,000 sheep are slaughtered every year. There are historical sources indicating higher numbers of mother sheep in earlier periods. 18th and 19th century sources mention figures of 75,000, 96,000 and 100,000 mother sheep [48], but changes in the volume of production have not been dramatic. Traditionally, sheep were vulnerable to drastic climatic conditions, severe winters, or particularly devastating storms. While climatic conditions still affect the mortality rate of sheep in the outfield, other factors affecting mortality have been minimized. Use of medication and winter feeding has lowered mortality. The lowered mortality means that more sheep graze in the outfield, especially during the winter period, which in turn increases pressure on the grazing areas resulting in soil erosion and deteriorating quality of the pastures [76]. In summary, while production is perhaps the same or higher than in previous periods, it is increasingly dependent upon imported animal feed. In addition, as a result of the increasing pressure placed on the pastures, the bio-productive capacity of the land is eroded, undermining the potential for future sustainable pastoral food production. As has been shown in other cases of agricultural industrial intensification, the increase in production can entail negative sustainability consequences, both locally and in other territories [77]. The estimated yearly production of sheep meat is around 900 tons, corresponding roughly to around 18 kg per capita [78].

## 3.4.2. Cultivation (Potatoes)

Traditionally, the main crops cultivated in the Faroes were barley and swedes (brassica), but from the 19th century potatoes became the staple and more or less replaced other crops. It is difficult to assess how large formal and informal cultivation of potatoes is, but commercial potato production is limited. Many people keep their own potato fields in their gardens, for example, or in infield plots. A few farmers cultivate and sell potatoes, but locally produced potatoes cannot be produced at a lower cost than imported potatoes. It is estimated that around 700 tons of potatoes are cultivated every year, corresponding to around 20% of total potato consumption, while the rest is imported [78].
