A concerned reader:

This link leads to an article Jonah referenced yesterday about a giant cow in England. Said article states that he [I think this means the cow, not Jonah — J.D.] eats grass and “enjoys the occasional swede as a treat.” I note the lower case, but seek your assurance that they aren’t feeding him people from Sweden, and that this is some sort of Brit slang.

[Me] I regret I can offer no such assurance, Sir. When it comes to animal feed, the English are exceptionally creative, and the rendered flesh of small, plump Scandinavians has indeed been found to be an excellent fortifier for the usual soybean mash. The Swedish Embassy in London has been making angry representations about this for years, but to no effect. Farmers are very conservative. I believe the feeding of Swedes to cattle began back in the ninth century, when England was overrun by obstreperous Vikings.