Two kombuchas with Noemi
Two kombuchas with Noemi
Journalists: Marie Tjelta & Li Li Than Winn
Photographer: Jørgen Berg Yndestad
As in any typical Two beers interview, we meet Noemi Hanna Linder at a place that has meant a lot to her during her time in Ås: the collective. We are invited into a warm and cozy living room filled with green plants, mushrooms hanging to dry, and knitted blankets. A hint of earth lingers in the air from the freshly harvested vegetables lying on the kitchen counter. Noemi serves us pesto dip made from stinging nettle, sunflower seeds, and carrot sprouts, along with freshly brewed kombucha, and you can't help but feel at home.
From Hanna to Noemi
When Noemi first came to Ås, she made the decision to change her name from Hanna Noemi to Noemi Hanna. "Everyone in Ås knows me as Noemi," she tells us. It was a name she felt suited her better: "Coming to Ås marked a new chapter in my life, so it felt fitting to change my name." When we ask what drew Noemi to Ås, she laughs: "I wanted to get far away from Tromsø, where I grew up." She initially wanted to study landscape architecture at NMBU, but as we all know, life rarely goes as planned. The program wasn’t quite right for Noemi, so she switched to a bachelor's degree in biology, as nature and the life around her are things she is passionate about.
Now, Noemi is pursuing a master's degree in sustainable food systems at NMBU, which makes sense given that sustainable food is one of her core causes. She is a strong advocate for harvesting her own food and spends a lot of time foraging in nature. She especially enjoys picking mushrooms and berries when they are in season and generally loves being outdoors. Despite having a large garden and three greenhouses around her, she doesn’t plant much herself. As for indoor plants, she simply gives them "water and hopes they survive."
To learn from nature
Nature plays a significant role in Noemi's life. Not only is she passionate about helping to address the environmental crisis we face, but she also enjoys spending time in nature and learning from it. It's not uncommon to find Noemi sitting at the root of a tree on campus. "Today, I found a new tree to sit under in the sun," Noemi says cheerfully. Here, she can either lie down to read or close her eyes, listening to the hum of people passing by and the birds chirping in the trees. She describes a unique kind of silence and presence that greets her when she is embraced by nature. It's a calm stillness—feeling the sound of raindrops, as they hit your face, feeling connected to yourself and to the sense that your body is part of all the life around us.
Noemi and her friend Lone learned more about the relationship between people and nature when she studied Ethnobotany during her exchange in the Netherlands. Ethnobotany is a field that explores the connection between plants and humans. When Noemi returned to Ås, she felt this was something she wanted to dive deeper into and introduce to her fellow students. Since NMBU didn’t offer a course in this field, she and her friend took matters into their own hands. In 2024, they organized a student-led June block course in Ethnobotany, later renamed Traditional Ecological Knowledge. The course was coordinated by three students and had 14 participants. Its focus was on what humans can learn from nature and from people who have lived closely with it—knowledge that can’t necessarily be found in an academic textbook. Noemi explains that people who have lived in connection with the ecological systems of a place possess knowledge passed down through generations, which can’t be gained by analyzing from the outside. We must talk to each other and learn from each other—learn from nature. This idea has also influenced her master’s degree in sustainable food systems: we must work together with nature. She emphasizes that we cannot ignore the ecosystems around us and must develop agriculture that includes nature.
Something other than Samfunnet
As a first-year student in the fall of 2020, Noemi tried out many different things at Samfunnet, like most students do. Over time, she realized that Samfunnet might not be the right place for her. Noemi started to develop a desire to engage in sustainability efforts and became involved in the political and activist scene in Ås. Through her friend August, she eventually found her way to Spire. Not long after, Spire was looking to hire a coordinator for Foodsharing. Noemi jumped at the opportunity when the position became available and took the responsibility seriously. This is how she suddenly found herself as the face of Foodsharing in the spring of 2021.
Formal dumpster diving
As the coordinator for Foodsharing, Noemi worked to reduce food waste and create change within the community. Her passion grew as she realized the work was making a real impact locally. She saw that awareness around food waste was increasing and that it brought people together. Noemi describes the excitement she feels when working on such projects as “a spark that gives me so much energy and so much drive to change something.” The motivation to give it her all gave her a kind of glow: “it gives you a kick.”
One of Noemi's best memories from her time as the coordinator of Foodsharing was the film premiere of “Foodsharing Ås: Food that Builds Community” in the spring of 2022 at Ås Cinema. Together with Spire, they had produced a film about the Foodsharing concept at the university. In the film, they talked a lot about the Friday lunches hosted by Foodsharing, which Noemi also mentions as some of her fondest memories. Every student was welcome to come together and cook with what they had from Foodsharing. “We sat outside in the winter and ate, everyone was a bit cold, but it was okay because we had warm soup and sat together,” Noemi recalls with a smile.
Before and after Foodsharing, Noemi was involved in dumpster diving. She describes dumpster diving as a motivation for Foodsharing, as she was shocked by the amount of food being thrown away. Foodsharing became a platform where they could talk directly with stores, which led to a kind of “formal” dumpster diving. For two years, she played a significant role in building a community with others in Foodsharing, which she compares to being part of an organization: they not only cooked together but also spent their free time together.
Travel changes perspective
If there's one thing Noemi can be honest about, it's that she can't stay in one place for too long. She loves to travel and experience new places, environments, and cultures. An internship in Tanzania, an exchange program in France, Interrailing through Europe, and more recently, hitchhiking across Norway are just a few of the adventures Noemi has embarked on.
Noemi believes it's important to see things from other perspectives, and traveling gives us the opportunity to do just that. "It's important to see things from different viewpoints, to experience other people's realities, and to understand that not everyone lives like we do here in Norway. People live in many different ways with various opportunities." She talks about the effects of climate change she witnessed when visiting Tanzania and saw how severely it impacted the village farmers and their crops. This is something, Noemi points out, that we in the Global North have a huge responsibility to address. "I have the opportunity here in Norway to make a difference with the privileges I have."
She also adds that her vacation in Norway this summer gave her new insights. "You don't need to travel far to gain new perspectives on the world, just talk to the people around you and understand why they think the way they do."
Community
Noemi goes on to share how other cultures have influenced her perspective on community. While life in Norway is quite private, where people rarely strike up a conversation with a stranger, Tanzania offered something entirely different. There, the culture was more open, where people were not only more present together but also learned from one another. Noemi believes that a strong community is fundamental to well-being, and that one can learn a lot from others who live differently. "Living in such a different context really impacted me," she says.
Community was exactly what Noemi encountered when she arrived in Ås. "It gives motivation to engage in activism and fight for a better world," Noemi smiles. It was community that reignited her passion for nature and sustainability. It drove her to make a change to inspire those around her. The sense of community was perhaps one of the most important aspects that emerged while she was working with Foodsharing. The camaraderie of cooking together, while making a positive change—no matter how small it may seem—was significant. In Noemi's eyes, community is what can truly change the world for the better.
Greetings
Dear Noemi,
I am far away from Ås at the moment, and a big reason for why I miss it so much is that you laid the foundation for my being at home there when I first arrived. You are the cornerstone of almost everything I am in Ås - I wouldn’t think of our little town so fondly now had I not been welcomed by you so openly at the first Foodsharing meeting I attended two years ago. Since then, I have learned many things from you. I have learned that Rema 1000 is far more interesting from the backside, that Innbyggertorget is a great place for sharing unnecessarily deep conversations, that moss cannot be named as a singular plant in Stadt-Land-Fluss, that swimming in the Oslo fjord in December after a visit to the Opera is not at all as crazy as it sounds and that tea is best shared on the floor. I have learned that the best advent calendars are made by friends, that coordinating people is best done in partnership, and that receiving socks for Christmas is actually really wonderful. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself! I look up to how you approach people so directly and openly, and I think your excitement to learn is one of the brightest things I’ve ever witnessed. I wish you the sweetest of encounters with people who reciprocate your brilliance, a home wherever you go, trust in your own emotions and peace in your freedom. Looking forward to all the Monday-5 o’clock-magics at Asian Deli, unclimbed mountains, hitchhikes to Tromsø or Berlin and Gute Laune Tee-sessions that await us!
Until then,
Milo
Noemi is among the most genuine and unique beings I have met here in Ås🐵 A true keystone species that contributes to biological and cultural diversity and other essential functions—both in the student ecosystem, the local community, and nature🌱 A colorful and curious creature with a big heart and an open mind, who has room for everything and everyone❤️ Always on the lookout for learning, new challenges, opportunities to contribute to inclusive communities, and a better world🦋 An incredibly good friend who always has space to listen and gives the warmest hugs you can imagine✨ Thank you for being who you are, Noemi🌈 Warm greetings from a mystical Fungust in southern Portugal🍄
Noemi is an incredible person—attentive, joyful, patient, playful, and a driving force for a strong community and a better future! I have greatly enjoyed the many conversations we've had about the world, along with all the delicious food we've dumpster-dived and shared together. She is also inspiring with her optimistic attitude and her commitment to volunteer work.
Greetings Sigrid Knag
“Elfchen”
Noemi
Joyfully dancing,
Humble and caring,
Living honesty and curiosity,
Embracing the world
with your open heart
Mareike & Lea
