Kolding FUSILLI Living Lab at Denmark’s Folkemøde

This year the Kolding FUSILLI Living Lab was invited to participate in one of the biggest democratic event in Denmark – the Folkemøde on Bornholm. The Folkemøde is a yearly event which is created in co-operation with political parties, grass rootes, different associations and companies and more than 8,000 citizens and decision-makers meet up to engage in dialogue and increase the understanding among us.

FUSILLI project manager in Kolding, Helle Vilsbøll, participated together with the mayor of Kolding, Knud Erik Langhoff, the director of the municipallity, Merete Dissing, the director of the health care administration, Annette Lund and politician and chairman of the Food Council, Birgitte Kragh.

Among other things the Kolding Living Lab was invited in to debate how we can transform the food system of the future to become more sustainable and climate-friendly and to discuss the important role of the public kitchens to ignite, impact and drive the change. Specifically, we participated in ”Plantebranchens” (the Plant Business) panel debate ”Where to ask for help if you want to eat greener” together with four other national food actors. The primary focus was to contribute with our experience from the FUSILLI project and our actions to develop more climate-friendly canteens.

The following main points from the debate:

👉The public kitchens, associations etc., which serve food to several thousand citizens every day, play an important role to inspire and evoke interest in plant-rich food

👉Next up are the retail stores, which can help the motivated consumer in the next phase with inspiration for new favorite dishes and by making shopping easy with “plug & play” solutions

👉Social tipping points are “game changers” to change our eating habits. One thing is what the government wants, but the big shift only happens when our close relationships change their behaviour

👉Make it cool! Who would have thought that the Danes would eat “rice and raw fish”? In no time sushi has become a fixed part of our food culture! How can we create the “sushi effect” for plant-rich food?

We were also invited in to network debate “The public meal – the future, the responsibility and the joy“, which is organized by the Food Organization of Denmark. The debate was arranged as a social dinner which included key note speakers and informal dialogue around the table. A great way to facilite knowledge sharing and cater dialogue across the different municipalities and food actors.

The main points from the network debate:

👉 Political support and ambitious politicians are needed.

👉 We must dare to set a direction and the kitchens must have the opportunity to submit something for political decision.

👉 How do we get politicians interested? Sustainable food plays into so many current agendas and is a key contributor to more climate friendly cities.

👉 The kitchens play an important role in reshaping our food culture, and they are ready to take the lead, they just need “accept and room to act”.

👉 A more sustainable food profile in public kitchens is also an important recruitment factor. If we want skilled and qualified labor in the future!

👉Price must not be the only factor in purchases! It is important that we also include some sustainability dimensions.

Participating in the event together with the politicians and directors from the civil service was a great opportunity to highligt the importance of the food agenda and challenges, knowledge building and facilitate networking. Hopefully, this will pave the way for the first food strategy for Kolding.