‘Insanely tasty green food’: how the meaty Danes embraced a world-first plant-based plan
“If we want to reduce the climate footprint within the agricultural sector, then we all have to eat more plant-based foods,” he said at the plan’s launch in October 2023, and since then the scheme has gone from strength to strength. Backed by a €170m government fund, it is now supporting plant-based food from farm to fork, from making tempeh from broad beans and a chicken substitute from fungi to on-site tastings at kebab and burger shops and the first vegan chef degree.
Globally, animal farming produces 12%-20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and significant cuts in meat and dairy consumption in rich countries is essential to tackling the climate crisis, scientists say.
However, attempts to curb the huge impact of livestock on the environment in other countries have usually descended rapidly into bitter culture wars and tractors on the streets in protest.