Lavåret (Lichen Year) no relation Swedish emigration to the United States
The Famine of 1867–1869 was the last famine in Sweden, and (together with the Finnish famine of 1866–1868) the last major famine in Northern Europe.In Sweden, the year 1867 was known as Storsvagåret ('Year of Great Weakness') and, in Tornedalen, as Lavåret ('Lichen Year') because of the bark bread made of lichen.  It contributed to the great rush of Swedish emigration to the United States.Aftermath
The authorities were exposed to harsh criticism from the press because of how ineffectively the relief funds from the emergency committees were distributed, and on which terms. Notably the paper Fäderneslandet voiced its anger at the fact that those most in need of help were left without because of the unwillingness of the authorities to compromise the principle of help in exchange for work, a regulation the paper described as "quasi philosophical thoughts about the value of work".There was widespread criticism focused on the belief that the famine in Sweden was caused by unjust distribution. This is supported by the fact that the year of 1867 was in fact a successful year for the Swedish cereal exports: the largest of the farms and estates in Sweden exported their harvests, mostly oats, to Great Britain, where it was used for horse drawn buses in London.There was also a fact that authorities had elected to impose a more strict interpretation than the Poor Care Regulation of 1847 would have allowed, thus making the famine worse than it needed to be. The 1847 law was replaced but a few years after the famine by the very strict Poor Care Regulation of 1871, which followed the strict practice of distribution made by the elite during the famine.
The great famine of 1867–68, and the distrust and discontent over the way the authorities handled the relief help to the needy, is estimated to have contributed greatly to Swedish emigration to the United States, which skyrocketed around this time.
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