Together, Denmark's Nature Conservation Association, the Danish Vegetarian Association, the Protection of Animals, the Association for Regenerative Agriculture, the Climate Movement Association in Denmark, Greenpeace, the Green Transition Denmark, World Animal Protection and the National Ecological Association are today publishing the report 'From fodder til føde II'.

The report contains a calculation of how Danish agricultural and food production might look, so that we as a country respect the planet's natural resource base expressed as planetary boundaries, and Denmark must therefore comply with the Danish Climate Act, the Paris Agreement and other binding objectives in the aquatic environment, nature, biodiversity, animal welfare and drinking water.

"Denmark is the country in Europe where agriculture takes up the most space, and nature is crowded almost everywhere. It is therefore imperative that nature be given more space. We must improve the conditions for birds, insects and wild plants, among other things by creating coherence in nature, by letting cows out into the fields so that they graze, by allowing forest areas to become untouched forest and by drastically cutting back on the use of pesticides and nitrogen. If we give nature space, it acknowledges immediately," says Maria Reumert Gjerding, president of Denmark's Nature Conservation Association.

With the changes outlined in the report, in 2040 Denmark will have an agriculture and food production where food is produced for at least the same number of people as today, at the same time that the space for nature is doubled, the area of ​​forest becomes larger and farm animals are recognized as living and sentient beings, as required by the Animal Welfare Act.

"In the agriculture of the future, sustainability must be paramount, and food is created in balance with the animals, with nature and with the climate. The over 200 million animals in Danish agriculture are today forced into intensive systems, where the animal is adapted to the stable, and nothing is left to the animal's normal behavior. The industrialization of animals must stop, and the vision for future agriculture is an agriculture that we can also explain to future generations," says Britta Riis, director of Dyrenes Beskytselse.

"We have counted on the natural consequences in 2040, if Denmark fulfills the agreements we as a country have already committed ourselves to both internationally and nationally, and it is entirely possible that in the future agriculture can coexist with climate, nature, the water environment and animal welfare. If there is political will to follow up on speeches and promises, then we can quickly turn the tide away from oxygen depletion, dead seabed, gasping fish and disappearing bit of nature," says Sune Scheller, campaign manager at Greenpeace.

The report also points out that if we jointly ensure that we comply with the official dietary guidelines with more plants and less meat, it will help agriculture with the transition and pave the way for the export of new types of food. To that end, there are already political initiatives on the table such as establishment of the Plant Foundation, and 'From foder til føde II' point to several possible measures to transform the market. This is in addition to help for debt settlement in agriculture and compensation for ceasing to cultivate the land.

"We must develop and not liquidate agriculture. Here is a vision for the future, where Danish farmers can help solve the climate and biodiversity crisis. We recommend that Denmark now go all-in on developing a world-class organic and regenerative agriculture that in 2040 can stay within the planetary boundaries, promote biodiversity and protect our drinking water and marine environment. A first decisive step is to introduce a climate tax that can turbocharge the green transition away from the excessive animal and climate-burdening production, which is not sustainable," says Bjarke Møller, director of the Green Transition Denmark.

"The global market for plant-based foods is growing rapidly, and Danish companies have an obvious opportunity to take valuable market shares by producing high-quality plant-based foods of the future. We have the opportunity to become one of the world's most innovative countries in this area. Let's future-proof agriculture to meet demand, both at home and on the export markets," says Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl, secretary general of the Danish Vegetarian Association.

"We are nine green organizations that want to develop and future-proof Danish agriculture. This means that we must grow far less fodder, eat more plant-based, give animals a completely new and important role and change agriculture so that it is cultivated according to ecological principles. In that process, we are 100% behind the ecologists, but also all the farmers who want to restructure their agriculture," says Louise Køster, head of the Ecological Landsforening, and calls on the government to shed light on the socio-economic advantages and disadvantages of 'From fodder to food II', which may have an impact on the pace of the necessary restructuring of Danish agriculture. 'From feed to food II' is being put forward now as an inspiration and debate proposal for the government, which has just convened a green tripartite meeting in the agricultural area about a climate tax on agriculture.

They are behind From feed to food II
The nine green organizations behind the report 'Fra foder til føde II' are Denmark's Nature Conservation Association, Danish Vegetarian Association, Animal Protection, the Association for Regenerative Agriculture, the Climate Movement Association in Denmark, Greenpeace, the Green Transition Denmark, World Animal Protection and the National Ecological Association. 'From feed to food II' is a follow-up to the report 'From feed to food', which was published in 2020.