Two beers with Ida Beate Løken

We meet at the crossing by Meieribygningen, ready to find a suitable place outside to sit and talk: Ida Beate Løken, the photographer, me, and Ragnvald Jarl of Nothern Bones. The latter is Ida’s eager Lundehund, known in everyday life as Reino or Knut. The trip continues towards the “gapahuk” by the Veterinary Institute where we sit down and start the conversation with a bottle of Malstraum from the brewery in Kinn on Ida’s request. “Like the patriot that I am,” Ida says. Kinn brewery is located in Flora close to where Ida grew up.

Journalist: Marianne Skolbekken

Photographer: Anna Thylén

Home and farming

To questions about where she comes from, Ida tells us that she usually says she’s from Sunnfjord. “I feel I can’t fully call myself a Førdianar nor a “Florø-væring”, even though I’ve lived in both places.” Ida explains that by the time she was eight years old, she had already moved eight times, still within the same area in Sunnfjord, except for spending her first year in Drammen. Sunnfjord is located in Vestlandet, between Bergen and Ålesund, in what’s formerly known as Sogn and Fjordane County. Here Ida grew up on a farm together with her mother, and it was later passed on to her aunt and uncle. “If I have to choose, it’s the farm that is my home.” With four acres of cultivated land, some forest, and 30-40 winterfed sheep, Ida says with a smile that she has many great memories from hashing, hay stacking, and cuddles with the lambs.

““My home has meant a lot to me.” ”

“Look, a woodpecker!”... and other experiences from nature

With a western mountain landscape in the background, I wonder what role nature has played in Ida’s life. “It has meant very-very mu... oh, look! A woodpecker,” Ida says, as we take a short break from the interview to study the bird that has landed on a birch trunk nearby. Ida continues, “I love going on hikes, it’s been quite a distance between people growing up, so one had to resort to nature. For me, going on hikes has been as natural as brushing my teeth.” She continues by telling me about playing with acorns in the woods, freestyling with a snowboard on powdered snow, and hiking in the mountains where the first leg was done on horseback. Ida admits that at times she thinks it’s weird to be in Ås, which is so flat.

“I usually look forward to the time of year that starts in about six months. During summer I think about ski trips, and during winter I look forward to summer and long hikes in the woods. But if I must choose a favourite, it has to be winter and the skiing season. Most of all, I like being up in the mountains. I like to follow the philosophy of Nils Faarlund about carving your own path, and demonstratively walk beside the tracks, it’s something about the natural experience. A machine does not belong in nature in that way, and even if I see the advantages of a formed track for availability, I try to use my own paths outside the machine-ready tracks.”

Ida says that it’s been challenging here in the east, especially in the Oslo area. “When I lived in Oslo, and the Veterinary Institute was located in Adamstuen, I tried to find a place without ski tracks during winter, but that was almost impossible.”

A climate-committed caveman

I’ve heard rumours about you living in a cave...

Ida laughs a little behind her mug with Malstraum: “yes, that’s correct, I lived outside for a whole year. The first weeks felt like camping, then it became a home. I still had a kitchen, a bathroom, and all that during the day, I just slept outside in the cave.” Ida describes it as “a simple and minimalistic life,” and would definitely advise others to have the same experience.

It became a real eye-opener for how I looked at consumption in the world and also in my own life, Ida continues. “I think today’s consumption is sad, and that it’s not necessarily the fault of the individual, but the system. The way we use up all of our natural resources faster, and how Earth Overshoot Day comes earlier and earlier. I think it comes ridiculously early. At the same time, I have a car and more clothes than most, so I am also a part of it. I understand that it’s difficult to change the system, but I hope we can do it soon.”

It might not come as a surprise that Ida is actively a part of the politics regarding the climate. “I come from a politically active family, where we’ve talked about politics at the breakfast table and dinner table and watched the news every night”. She goes on to explain how important it is for politics to be for everyone, something everyone should be able to influence. “I think it’s stupid that just a few professional politicians should decide on behalf of everyone.”

Ida herself has been engaged with Natur og Ungdom (Nature and Youth) and MDG. She is still a part of the latter, but she is a bit on the fence while waiting to see which position the party takes regarding the EU question, in regards to Norwegian agriculture, which is closest to Ida’s heart.Additionally, veterinary studies are demanding, with little to no spare time. “I’m interested in the socio-political , but I’ve chosen to spend my spare time on other interests.”

The agronomist that became a “leopard driver” ...

Before we move on to Ida’s time at NMBU, I would like to hear a little bit more about the time before the University in Ås. Ida says that she’s and educated Agronomist from an agricultural high school. After she got her competence, she went on to serve in the military as a “leopard driver”. “I was the driver of a large tanks.” Ida thinks that it’s also important for the military, as well as the politics, to represent the people. “I can’t argue against a pacifist, because war is stupid, but I still believe that a defence is necessary when humans fight over the resources we have. We then need the military to be for and of the people”.

...and later a choir loving, folk-dancing veterinary student came

When questioned if NMBU was the obvious choice, the answer is yes. Ida is an active member of “Leikarringen Frøy” and the veterinaries student choir “Tonus”, while also being on her fourth year of Veterinary Medicine. “I love folk music and folk dance, which is something I think I’ve been fed since a was a baby. At home, we have a big international folk music festival, so it’s something I’ve enjoyed for a very long time”. She continues to tell how well she get along with the people in Frøy and the weird, genius humour, both unserious chatter and the deep conversations. Tonus creates unity across the different years, Ida explains, “I remember the time as a larva, and that it was nice to get tips and hear about the experiences of the older students. I’m very happy to have that gang,” Ida says.

Now she has just finished her work for a research track. This was the start of her research, which will end with a research article before the end of the degree . The work is in total worth 120 credits. “I’ve always wanted to become a veterinarian.” Ida says. “I’m very engaged with animal welfare, and animals used in food production, so I hope to first work as a “klinker” before I start working for an organisation that promotes better animal welfare.”

Live in the now

With so much life experience already, I wonder if Ida has any wisdom to share with others. Ida thinks about it. “I think that you should be a little bit more here and now. Think that what was, was and what comes, comes. Focus more on what happens here now, and enjoy it. Like that woodpecker earlier, we would have missed him if we weren’t right here right now.”

Greetings to Ida

Ida Beate Løken (The cave man/The woman in the military commercials)

You are our forever yes-person and personal trainer environmental activist. Without you we would have eaten the climate-hostile rice that has travelled over long distances, without thinking about the fact that Norwegian barley is a more nutritious and environmentally friendly option that also supports Norwegian agriculture. We had, in all our ignorance, gone to the yarn store and bought merino and alpaca wool instead of Norwegian sheep wool to use for knitting. The list is long, even if you are not. A small but loud Sunnfjording found her way to Ås in 2017 (at the same time as us, thank god) and has since found many things to engage in, also here.

You won't find a more enlightened lady, and if you decide to share an argument or two, you can be sure that Ida follows with both one and two counterarguments, before we can settle down with what we originally were doing. Your engagement in everything from the cow’s vagina slime to politics and folk music and- dance is remarkable, and each and every one who gets you on their side have secured a great deal!

We are so happy to have you, and Reino, in our lives! <3

Greetings from your flatmates (more or less), good friends, and former classmates

Kristine and Mari

Greetings to Ida

To our dear Ida, you must be the definition of a superhuman. We don't know how many hours there are in your day, but there must be at least 5 hours more than us mortals. You juggle everything from association life, research line, a dog, and your countless creative hobbies. Nevertheless, time and time again you manage to stand up for your apple of the eye, Tonus Uteri.

For those of you who don't know Ida yet (and if so, have you lived under a rock, or in a cave like Ida has??), she is one of Ås' biggest personalities in a small, energetic body. And don't be fooled by her small stature, because this is a lady with a strong voice. Clear opinions, commitment and energy are things she never runs out of. And what is certainly not small about her is the space in her heart. Ida brings out the best in everyone around her, and always has a good story/drinking trick lying around, and this is one of the things we like best about you. Ida, you are the best of the best, and Tonus Uteri would certainly not have been the same without you.

You are a passionate person like no other, and we are so grateful to be able to call you a fellow student, a fellow student and, last but not least, our good friend! We never cease to be impressed by your capacity, and like a true Thorvald and Tora, you are a guest at every merry drinking table! Sincerely, your choir, Tonus Uteri. Ida, you always get us for free!

Brun Ida Brun

An old soul in a fit and energetic body! A choir and a song book on two legs. Nobody can enchant and bend a whole drooling leikarring with all 28(?) cooks like you. Show son catalogue, fearless and fearsome, you are so cool. And strong. And real! You burn as a flash fire for both us and Norwegian traditional culture. HAVE A NOISY SHIT DOG THAT SMELLS LIKE DRY FISH, and you also always smell a little like dry fish. You are the finest.

You are crazy on the dancefloor and can conquer even the biggest room with your raspy voice and prominent communication skills. Ida, a true authority – we follow you like sheep. Yes, we wouldn’t have a better shepherd. Your love pushes every exhortation and exclamation., and our hearts dance in honour to you, you inexhaustible powder keg of a woman. We look forward to you becoming a fable teller and a liar. Thank you for always being lovable, inspiring, crazy-eyed, loud, and absent-minded like a true “askeladd” in women’s clothes. To think that you notoriously wreck your voice for us! You know how to raise the roof. And have lots of ants up your ass.

Ida, our ancestor/joint mother - you’ve made your mark <3