New report on soy and palm oil brings into focus Danish agriculture

The area is used for the cultivation of soybean, of which Denmark yearly imports 1.5 mill. tons for the Danish husbandry. This costs rainforest, hurts the CO2 balance and destroys animal and plant life. At the same time fertilisers are used, which are illegal in the EU, because they destroy nature and cause serious illnesses. 

This is described in a new report by the Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture at Aarhus University.

Disappointing response from Danish Agriculture 

The report about soybean and palm oil has been in hearing in the Danish farmers’ organisation, Danish Agriculture and Food Council.

This made CEO of Danish Agriculture and Food Council, Søren Gade, explain that the organisation was ready to make demands for the production of soy.

However, in a press release issued by the organisation the same afternoon, it became clear that to begin with, the organisation will only commit to buying 3-4 % certified soy of the collected Danish import.

This made the Danish Society for Nature Conservation and WWF describe the Agriculture and Food Council’s reaction to the problem as embarrassing, inadequate and disappointing. 

Danish produced sustainable alternative

At Hveiti, we experience that the Danish Agriculture and Food Council believes that it is better to keep exporting our surplus wheat and import protein. The wheat that we export contains 10-11 % protein, which can be used through a biorefining process, where you at the same time use the other parts of the grain for food and bioethanol.  

In this way you achieve an optimal utilisation of the feedstock, and can with a Danish produced sustainable product replace about 8 % of Denmark’s yearly soybean import. The Danish Agriculture and Food Council knows about the potential of this future production, but has chosen not to support it.