Louise Johansen is a sociologist and the Head of Programmes at The Vegetarian Society of Denmark. She is dedicated to transforming the food system, working alongside her colleagues in Denmark and abroad to enhance access to healthy and affordable plant-based and organic foods.
In this guest post, Louise discusses Denmark’s Plant-Based Food Grant and Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods, exploring how other countries might follow Denmark’s example in promoting plant-based and organic food initiatives.
After Denmark’s Plant-Based Food Grant and Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods: Can Other Countries Follow Its Example?
In October 2021 the Danish government announced a green transition agreement for food and agriculture supported by almost all political parties in the parliament, and which entailed some groundbreaking plant-based initiatives and funding. These were:
- A Danish Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods
- A Plant-Based Food Grant – a fund established to develop and grow the plant-based sector
- Subsidies for farmers for growing crops for human consumption (an ‘eco-scheme’ developed under the Common Agricultural Policy of EU)
- In a country which has the largest pork production and export per capita, these initiatives created an unprecedented steppingstone for development of the plant-based sector in Denmark. But what happens when the lights turned out and the agreement should be implemented? And could other governments and parliaments be inspired to work towards the same policy initiatives in their respective countries?
The Plant-Based Food Grant was formally set up in March 2023 with 90 million Euros to be granted over 8 years (2023-2030) but has since then grown to 115 million Euros.
Plant-Based Food Grant supports projects stimulating plant-based development
The board members are appointed by different organizations with expertise relevant to plant-based development in Denmark, including the two expert organizations in Denmark on plant-based foods: Ourselves at the Vegetarian Society of Denmark and our good colleagues at the Danish Plant-Based Business Association. The board consists of 11 representatives from science, farmers, industry, commerce, consumers, climate and food.
The fund supports all kinds of projects stimulating plant-based development, ranging from increasing consumption (through professional kitchens and among citizens in general) to product development and strengthening collaboration throughout the value chain. 50% of the funding should go toward organic plant-based foods, a decision which has strengthened support for the funding scheme among stakeholders working towards a more sustainable food system.
The first round for the Plant-Based Food Grant saw 97 applications worth a total of 27 million Euros, which was almost four times the amount available in the first round (7.8 million Euros). The 36 funded projects range from:
- A vegetarian chef’s education (will be fully government-sponsored, incl. stipends for all students accepted)
- Post-education of kitchen professionals
- National pulses campaign with most retailers
- Various nudging projects targeting professionals – festivals, attractions, hotels, supermarkets, etc.
- Developing plant-rich recipes for elderly and sick people
- Several R&D projects: Texture/taste of alternative proteins, including fermentation
The second round for the Plant-Based Food Grant closed in April 2024 with 101 applications worth approximately 45 million Euro. In this round the amount of funding was 16 million Euros. In August 2024, the funded projects will be officially announced, and we expect even more projects with multiple partners to create broader synergies within the food system.
The establishment of the Plant-Based Food Grant is a crucial mechanism to fund the development of the plant-based sector in Denmark. The broad scope of the Plant-Based Food Grant makes it possible for different political parties to allocate and support funding for the Plant-Based Food Grant according to their preferences towards different parts of the value-chain or the plant-based development in general.
The biggest part and initial funding for the Plant-Based Food Grant comes from the government revenue of taxes on pesticides, but more funding has later been added from different political negotiations, for example the annual negotiations on research funding and negotiations on general green transition funding.
Danish Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods sets ambitious stage for Denmark
Where the Plant-Based Food Grant is a funding mechanism, the Danish Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods sets the stage for the plant-based ambitions in Denmark. The preface in the action plan states: “Plant-based foods are the future. If we want to reduce the climate footprint within the agricultural sector, then we all have to eat more plant-based foods….” (page 5).
The action plan features a broad spectrum of initiatives ranging from education of professionals and public sector kitchens to research and development for plant-based products, to export and internationalization of markets for these products, development of the value-chain, processing and production, as well as crop development.
Plan lacks concrete targets for production and consumption of plant-based foods
The Plant-Based Food Grants mirrors the broad spectrum of initiatives, although the action plan also addresses a broader variety of stakeholders to be involved in the work of development of the plant-based sector as well as public-private collaboration. Despite the broad scope of the action plan, the plan still lacks concrete targets for the production and consumption of plant-based foods, so we at the Vegetarian Society of Denmark are still advocating for a 2.0 version of the action plan. The number of applications and amount who applied for the Plant-Based Food Grant also suggest that even more funding could be allocated here.
National advocacy: Can other countries do the same?
The Danish Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods and the Plant-Based Food Grant have (so far) been valuable and important tools to work ambitiously and long-term with the development of the plant-based sector and market, as they have sent a clear signal to all stakeholders in Danish society that this is a priority for the future, while also making funding available for organizations, institutions or universities with good ideas. And importantly, both tools are looking at plant-based development from a holistic perspective.
So, what would it take to advocate for similar initiatives in other countries? A possible way to go could be:
- Show the market potential for plant-based foods – both nationally and internationally – to politicians and stakeholders
- Explore your country strongholds in agriculture and food and transfer those to the plant-based sector – where you also show the gains related to public health, climate, biodiversity and the environment
- Explore which kind of funding mechanism(s) can be setup – where could money be allocated from? Or gained from? (e.g. health-economic benefits by eating more plant-based)
- Create coalitions with a broad variety of stakeholders ranging from farmers, civil society organizations, researchers to businesses, working towards common goals. Perhaps everyone can’t collaborate together, because they have too different views of the agenda, but then smaller collaborations can take place, e.g. someone collaborating with the conventional farmers; others collaborating with NGO’s, etc.
- Ensure a broad understanding of plant-based foods – ranging from whole foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, mushrooms and pulses, to mildly processed products like pasta and bread and patties made from lentils and pulses and a broad spectrum of more processed foods, as well as ancient and modern techniques of fermentation. Such a broad view of plant-based foods can help secure support from a variety of stakeholders.
Every country has different strongholds and food cultures which every country must consider, as well as securing a mandate for such initiatives, which means ensuring enough politicians will support them. At the same time many countries also have goals related to climate, environment, health, biodiversity and so forth where a Plant-Based Food Grant and an Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods could be an important addition to achieve these.
Across many of the initiatives taken in Denmark towards more plant-based food policies, a common message has been ‘More plants’. This simple, yet profound focus on what we need more of and how this can be accomplished in a pragmatic way with lots of room for individual choices and preferences has been a narrative many stakeholders and politicians have been able to see themselves in.
When Denmark, as the biggest producer and exporter of pork per capita, can set up a Plant-Based Food Grant and develop an Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods, we truly believe that other countries will be able to achieve something similar. But there is no one-size-fits-all here.
Civil society organizations across Europe should carefully investigate and reflect on what are the specific national barriers towards similar plant-based policies, and what actions could be taken to move each country in a more constructive direction on this topic. We need such support at the national level in more countries if we also want to see more action at the EU level.
