Debate: How do we accelerate the green transition?
Denmark has a great plan for how to create the green transition, but food is not yet as high a priority in government policy, even though there are major gains to be made in both climate accounting and public health. Why is this?
Because there are explosive risks in food. It's about culture, habits, tradition and big business. About communities and business models. So what do we do to ensure that the discussion on how to transform food production doesn't get stuck, but moves us forward?
Among other things, we must dare to be flirtatious. Sigge Winther Nielsen moderates the debate and keeps them from giving answers to what the Danish national dish should consist of in 2034:
- Jacob Jensen, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
- Claus Meyer, TV chef and food activist
- Sarah Hellebek, vice principal at Krogerup Højskole and teacher of food transformation
After the debate, all our wise guests came to the table - many perspectives are needed when tackling wicked problems. Positive ideas on how to secure the green food Denmark of the future came flooding in. We've passed on all the good ideas to the three debaters - and we've collected a small selection of the responses here:
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Shooting star of vegetables
Kohlrabi
Burger with celeriac and mushroom patties
Danish Dahl
The potato maggot
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Seasonality requirements for supermarkets and takeaways, maximum distance to producers and only marketing seasonal food.
More requirements for all food sold during lunch hours or canteens
Use Danish educational institutions to train the new generation in the food system. This gives them a relationship with the food they consume and a knowledge of where it comes from and how it is produced.
Grassroots initiative inspired by the cooperative movement: Get people to join together in (local?) constellations to buy up land and farms, just like cooperative farms do today. Then there is room for learning about cultivation and food as well as the possibility of doing more regenerative agriculture.
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Easy and cheap access to vegetables that we know how to cook. There must also be easy solutions.
The easiest and most obvious choice in stores should also be the most sustainable and green - meat and other high carbon emitting items should be hidden further away.
Lots of colors and flavors - not the boring tomato we know from the supermarket. It should be grown in small, local communities.
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In today's debate, everything was pushed onto "the youth". I think motivation drops when young people don't see their commitment to a better world reflected in their parents. It's not cool to eat vegetables while your uncle eats steak until he dies. Pushing it onto 'young people' and their institutions removes the responsibility for what is happening from their parents and 'older' generations. The result is a lack of hope and a hedonistic 'fuck it' attitude.
Making green cooking easier and more intuitive. Many people don't know how to make a delicious green dish themselves. Education and perhaps a national climate food competition to find the ten new green national Danish dishes.
