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Click on the picture to watch a Christmas audio slideshow. The Iceland Review team wishes its readers gledileg jól (“Merry Christmas”) and farsaelt komandi ár (“Happy New Year), with sincere appreciation for your interest in our publications in the past years.  more

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Farmers, academics and artists Edward and Joyce Hill have been visiting Iceland annually for over thirty years. They have experienced all seasons in this country and their preferred time to visit is in the fall. Editor Bjarni Brynjólfsson met the couple in Reykjavík on their 30th anniversary.

Published in the 2009 autumn issue of Iceland Review – IR 47.03. By Bjarni Brynjólfsson. Photos by Páll Stefánsson and courtesy of the Hills.

It’s hard to find souls in the world more devoted to our favorite island here in the middle of the Atlantic than this couple. Edward and Joyce Hill are complete Icelandophiles and even grow Icelandic red potatoes on their free range chicken farm in Ohio. They also have their daily dose of fresh eggs from Icelandic hens, ride Icelandic horses, and have an Icelandic dog guarding their chickens. “Our Icelandic animals remind us of the place we like so much,” says Edward.

For years the Hills have been spreading the word about their favorite land in the north to anyone who wants to listen and they have started exporting fresh Icelandic agricultural products to the US—a growing business for them that has been very successful.

“We are really interested in creating appreciation for Icelandic agricultural products in the US. I think there are tremendous possibilities for those clean, quality products. The fact is that Iceland can’t produce enough quantity for a mass market. Therefore you don’t need to sell to the big supermarket chains. Bigger is not better in this respect.”

The Hills have been exporting 3,000–5,000 pounds of fresh lamb meat from Iceland to the US annually for the past five years. It has been sold by quality grocery store Dorothy Lane Market where the Hills also sell some of their free range chicken. “Icelandic lamb is an exceptional product. The meat does not even need seasoning as the sheep live on wild heather and drink such pure water,” says Joyce. “We believe in sustainable farming and that’s Icelandic agriculture in a nutshell.”

They have now ventured into selling skyr (an Icelandic milk product similar to yogurt) and Icelandic hot dogs. They are also contemplating the export of farmed arctic char as their next step in promoting Iceland to their countrymen. “If there are a few Icelandic products on sale it builds up awareness. Americans need to be taught how to eat lamb and that all lamb is not the same. Why not try arctic lamb and finish the meal off with a delicious skyr dessert?”

The story of the red Icelandic potatoes is typical of their fondness for Iceland. On one of their trips Edward was roaming around one of his favorite hang-outs in Reykjavík, the Kolaportid weekend flea market, where farmers gather to sell their products directly to consumers.

“There I encountered this potato farmer who spoke no English at all. He just gave me a handful of red eye potatoes to try. I put them in my pocket and treated them like gold when I planted them back home. I got a tremendous crop which has been growing ever since. We sell some of our product directly to restaurants and they really like the reds because they have this waxy texture on the skin. There is only one problem: my wife won’t eat any other potatoes now so we can’t produce enough,” he says laughing and gives his wife a loving glance.

Edward first visited Iceland in 1970, then a college student studying Northern European Art. He had traveled extensively in Scandinavia to study ancient folk art and churches and was eager to come to Iceland to see the old stone and turf churches.

“My heart simply settled here and I have been coming ever since. I am very impressed by Icelandic history, especially the settlement age and how the nation converted to Christianity. I was at Thingvellir in 1974 when the nation celebrated 1,100 years of settlement and it was wonderful.”

A sculptor, artisan and a former college professor at Wilberforce College in Ohio, Edward used his holidays to come to Iceland to study history, Icelandic artists and folk art and simply spend time among the Icelanders. “I was once permitted to hold the small, ancient Thor bronze in your National Museum in my hands. It was simply amazing.”

Edward got very interested in the work of the late Icelandic sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson. “I liked the idea of the artist living with his work in a museum he had created and had plans to build something similar for myself.”

You can read the rest of this article in the 2009 autumn issue of Iceland Review – IR 47.03. Four times a year the print edition of Iceland Review brings you a wealth of articles on all aspects of life in Iceland including Páll Stefánsson's latest images of the country's majestic landscape. Click here to subscribe and here to browse through a selection of pages from the current issue.

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Farmers, academics and artists Edward and Joyce Hill have been visiting Iceland annually for over thirty years. They have experienced all seasons in this country and their preferred time to visit is in the fall. Editor Bjarni Brynjólfsson met the couple in Reykjavík on their 30th anniversary.  more

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