Denmark Publishes the World's First National Plant-Based Action Plan

Denmark has become the first country in the world to publish a national action plan for plant-based foods, setting out how the government will help farmers, food companies, chefs and shoppers move toward plants.

The plan, from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, runs to around 40 pages and comes 18 months after the Danish parliament agreed a green transformation of the country's farming sector. It covers training for chefs in public and private kitchens, more plant-based food in primary schools, support for research and development, and promoting Danish plant-based food abroad through the country's embassies.

In the foreword of the official plan, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Jacob Jensen writes simply: "Plant-based foods are the future." The ministry's own summary puts it like this:

There is no doubt that a more plant-based diet, in accordance with the Danish Official Dietary Guidelines, contributes to lowering the climate footprint. Therefore, the Government wants to strengthen the Danish plant-based agri-food sector.

The ministry also sees plant-based food as an export opportunity, and wants the sector to help Denmark take the lead in the field.

This is coming from a country best known for bacon and butter. Denmark is one of the world's biggest pork exporters, so a government saying plants are the future is a big deal.

Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl, secretary general of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark, which campaigned for the plan for years, called it "internationally groundbreaking", though the society wants bigger funding and clearer targets. The first round of Denmark's existing Plant Fund, worth DKK 58 million (about €7.8 million), drew applications for more than three times that amount, which says a lot about how many Danish businesses want in.

The climate case is clear. Just this summer an Oxford University study of 55,000 people found that vegan diets cut climate impact by 75% compared to high-meat diets. And Denmark's own dietary guidelines already tell people to eat more plants and less meat.

Denmark has been heading this way for a while. In 2016 the country considered a tax on red meat to fight climate change, and in 2017 Danish politicians went vegan to tackle climate change. Just this week Lidl Germany cut its vegan prices to match meat, and in January Edinburgh became the first European capital to endorse the Plant Based Treaty.

The first national plan. Hopefully not the last.