Right now approximately 7 percent of the Danish farmed area is organic and the Government's official goal is to reach 15 percent by 2020 and 100 percent by 2030! Could this really be a realistic goal, or will the rough economic times get in its way?
Organic basic products like eggs, milk and flour have had a high market share for decades, but the last couple of years the Danish consumers have been demanding a far broader variety of products which has resulted in an increasing import. Unfortunately, when looking at fruit and vegetables specifically we see an almost opposite pattern. Basic products like carrots and potatoes still have a high market share but a lot of other products haven’t seen any increase over the past few years. This is confirmed by some of the major Danish organic producers. Marienlyst, one of the country’s biggest suppliers of organic vegetables has even had a 20 percent decrease in sales over the last year. Mogens Hansen from Marienlyst explains that the decrease in sales is a result of Danish consumers demanding cheaper groceries due to the worldwide financial crisis.
- So, how is the Danish government going to reach their very ambitious goal? Here’s a few ideas from Mette Gjerskov, the Danish minister of food and agriculture.
- All public meals should be organic (schools, hospitals, retirement homes etc.) That’s half a million meals a day.
- All government owned farming land should be organic. Right now we’re at 24 percent so there’s a pretty big potential.
- New organic products. The Danish government is going to support the development of new products, both for the Danish market and with an increased export in mind.
- Better education. When educating new farmers, schools should have an increased focus on the benefits of organic farming.