Ambitions

The participants at the Nordic Food Innovation Summit set forth overall ambitions for future cross-Nordic collaborations. These ambitions, which are summarized and condensed below, not only reflect current shortcomings of our food systems, but also the great potential in reshaping them: Changing the way we produce and consume food represents one of the most effective courses of action to alleviate the challenges of today, including climate change, biodiversity loss and the health crisis.

The ambitions below are suggested as top priorities for the Nordic governments, NGOs and food system stakeholders in general. In the initiatives section, these are followed up by concrete proposals for steps that might be taken to meet them, developed at the Nordic Food Innovation Summit in December 2024. 

The current state of policy-making surrounding food production and consumption is sometimes described as a waiting game: New policies is one of the tools that can speed up the sustainable development of our food systems and guide consumer behaviour, but there is a stalemate where politicians are concerned about taking steps that might offend consumers and anger primary producers and the food industry in general. Conversely, primary producers, supermarket chains and other key stakeholders in the food space are waiting for the politicians to act. This waiting game needs to end. And the rate of progress needs to speed up radically. The initiatives section presents concrete steps for getting started on this path.

Another related factor that is holding back change is the lack of a common Nordic interpretation of the applicable EU regulations. We need broad Nordic alliances for action with representation from all relevant stakeholders to escape the stalemate and secure a unified and fair interpretation and implementation of EU regulations in the Nordics. Working together across the Nordics to move in the same direction will strengthen our overall progress and curb unfortunate effects such as increased border trade, which occurs when neighbouring countries diverge significantly on food tax policy.

Rasmus Willig, Head of Suhrs Højskole and Chairperson of Andelsgaarde, Denmark

The current state of policy-making surrounding food production and consumption is sometimes described as a waiting game: New policies is one of the tools that can speed up the sustainable development of our food systems and guide consumer behaviour, but there is a stalemate where politicians are concerned about taking steps that might offend consumers and anger primary producers and the food industry in general. Conversely, primary producers, supermarket chains and other key stakeholders in the food space are waiting for the politicians to act. This waiting game needs to end. And the rate of progress needs to speed up radically. The initiatives section presents concrete steps for getting started on this path.

Another related factor that is holding back change is the lack of a common Nordic interpretation of the applicable EU regulations. We need broad Nordic alliances for action with representation from all relevant stakeholders to escape the stalemate and secure a unified and fair interpretation and implementation of EU regulations in the Nordics. Working together across the Nordics to move in the same direction will strengthen our overall progress and curb unfortunate effects such as increased border trade, which occurs when neighbouring countries diverge significantly on food tax policy.

As shown by the impact analysis of the Nordic Kitchen Manifesto (report in Danish), the success of the Nordic Food Movement has not impacted all parts of society equally. While the values of the New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto have become second nature to many chefs and have been influential abroad, we see trends, today, among ordinary consumers that point in the opposite direction. For instance, while locally sourced produce is championed in many of our top restaurants, there is a move towards fewer of our meals at home including local and regional ingredients in countries such as Denmark.

Madkulturen (2023). Madkultur23 – Råvarer

Studies from Denmark show an increasing reluctance to spend time in the kitchen on a day-to-day basis, and a modest degree of involvement of children in the preparation of family meals.

Madkulturen (2022). Madkultur22 – Madlavning

The Nordic countries must prioritise efforts that can provide knowledge and skills and create opportunities to eat and cook in line with both sustainability goals and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations for the general public. To achieve this, the challenge needs to be approached from many different angles, and a cross-Nordic collaboration and sharing of knowledge and experiences is a clear opportunity area. The initiatives section outlines a number of concrete suggestions to further this ambition.

The idea of leveraging locally produced food that reflects the values of great taste, quality and sustainability is ingrained in the Nordic Food Movement. However, this ideal is only reflected to a limited extent in our food culture at large. One key reason being supply side shortcomings. Marketing, distribution/logistics, limited resources and profitability among small producers are some of the issues that undermine the integrity of our food culture.

There is a need to support and promote our region’s small scale primary producers who are working tirelessly to put sustainable Nordic produce of high quality on our plates while struggling to maintain their position in the food economy. Small producers are integral to the health, resilience and potential of our Nordic food landscape and culture. They have the potential to play a key role in creating the connectedness to food, land and sea that we identify as crucial to sustainability, food security and good health. However, they face a number of disadvantages in getting their products onto plates. It must be easier for small producers to get their food to consumers. In turn there is a need to make it more convenient and attractive for consumers and food service to vote ‘yes’ to local and regional foods from small-scale production. Developing alternative marketing channels and forms of ownership, including the co-operative model, are important aspects of this effort that must be prioritised. A key area of focus is to work towards greater transparency and remove obstacles posed by de facto monopolies and problematic business practices, as outlined in more detail in the initiatives section. 

Education programmes supporting new approaches in farming with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and greater collaboration in food production is a key area of opportunity. It would benefit the Nordic region to support more diversity and new approaches to educating farmers, including building bridges between the established players in primary production and small independent farmers and new small farm schools.

Ragnar Eiríksson, Executive Chef, Brút Restaurant, Iceland

The Nordic countries have very different practices in place when it comes to food education for children and youth, from nursery to primary school and beyond. But there is a growing shared understanding that the current status quo is insufficient to achieve the needed sustainable and healthy transformation of our eating habits. Uplifting meals and, particularly, food education for our youngest members of society should be a top priority for both our governments and in civil society. A cross-Nordic collaboration and coordination is a fruitful new path to elevating this agenda. Importantly, a renewed focus on this vital area should take a bird’s eye view and address food education across the time frame from when a child enters nursery school until they graduate from post-secondary school. An important focus in this effort would be to unlock the largely unrealised potential in working with farmers, fishermen, gardeners, chefs, businesses, cultural institutions etc. to conceive and implement holistic programmes for food education that reflect current needs, as outlined in more detail in the initiatives section.

Over the past 20 years, the Nordic Food Movement has given us a confidence in Nordic food as a distinct cuisine, but the intention has never been to obscure the cultural and culinary diversity that flourishes in the Nordic countries today and enriches our collective food culture. People who have migrated to the Nordics have brought with them culinary wisdom that can enrich our food culture in multiple ways if properly tapped into. This represents a great resource and potential for engagement of people and communities. To name one example, the green transition on our plates is unlikely to succeed without the wisdom of the cuisines from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, where centuries of cooking traditions have cracked the code to cooking flavourful food with modest use of meat. Just as we in the Nordics have a responsibility to preserve and learn from the culinary heritage of deeply rooted local cooking traditions that still prevail in our region, it is also crucial that we appreciate the invaluable contributions of minority groups that are expanding our food culture and working in kitchens and agriculture throughout the Nordics. Working conditions in these fields must be improved across the board. 

Andreas Viestad, Geitmyra Matkultursenter for barn, Norway