SLU news

Scenarios for a more sustainable food system in the Nordic countries

Published: 26 November 2018

The food system of the future will be shaped by decisions taken at many levels by different decision makers and stakeholders. Researchers from SLU have worked in a multidisciplinary research project where five interest groups from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden actively participated in developing scenarios for their future vision of a more sustainable food system in the Nordic region. The scenarios were then modeled to study the effects on the production and consumption of food as well as the food's climate impact.

The results show that it would be possible to supply the Nordic population by 2030 and more, with food produced from Nordic organic agriculture. However, this is provided that feed production is limited to non-direct edible foods, which led to fewer animals and thus reduced consumption of meat and other animal products. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 0.48 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per person per year (significantly lower than for the current diet) and in total approximately 0.21 hectares of arable land would be claimed per person.

Scenario modeling is a powerful tool for illustrating and evaluating the effects of alternative ways of producing and consuming food. However, these types of studies are often done by researchers without the active participation of decision makers and stakeholders. Co-creation can, on the other hand, lead to increased transparency and that people and organizations involved in forming future policies feel greater ownership of the results.