Two September days in Denmark, organised by the Danish Agriculture and Food Council as a way of introducing 16 UK foodies to all the wonderful things happening in Copenhagen regarding organic and plant-based foods. The study tour was entitled ”How Denmark Did It – Plant-Rich and Organic For Everyone!” and focused on the out-of-home sector.
Highlights too numerous to mention but they included:
Lisa Walborn of FoodNation explaining that the success of state-run organics in Denmark – 15% of food and drink sales as opposed to 2% in the UK – was down to the trust that exists between citizen and government
Bettina Bergmann Madsen on how she made public procurement of organics and plant rich sexy, so that Copenhagen schools now have 90% organic meals
Bo Frederiksen of Meyers Madhus explaining why expensive attempts to replicate meat are a waste of time when all you need are plant-rich meals with ‘green umani’
Kirsten Aggersberg on how to develop an incredibly organic hotel chain but not tell anyone about it (the Danish way – no boasting!)
Martin Peterson of The Green Lab at Copenhagen Hospitality College on upcycling and turning food waste into gourmet products – with hands-on demonstration!
Add in a five course, plant-rich gourmet supper and it was a truly epic visit that was both great fun and highly educational. It is difficult to see the great strides Copenhagen has made in sustainability without being just a tiny bit jealous, but there are learnings here for the UK.
Thanks to Cornelius Simonsen and Ebbe Korsgaard Andersen of the DAFC for making it all happen
PS Here is AJ Sharp’s much more comprehensive piece on our visit
And here is a podcast I recorded with AJ Sharp when we got home
