Environmentally friendly food

We want to give a nuanced picture of our food system, and increase knowledge about what environmentally friendly food production is.

Les denne artikkelen på norsk Miljøvennlig mat

Food production requires energy, clean water, and good soil. What we produce – where and on what scale – is influenced by politics, environment, energy prices, and much more.

The way we produce food has an effect on the environment, but we can also take actions to reduce climate gas emissions and pollution.

Norwegian agricultural politics has spent many decades strengthening the largest farms, which has led to a mass closure of smaller farmsteads. This has also had consequences for nature. By now, 798 species connected to the agricultural landscape are threatened by extinction. Farmers could help save these species.

We also know that about 80% of bonded carbon is found in soil, and the majority of carbon storage in Norway is in wetlands and in cultivated landscapes.

How can we set a new course that ensures the preservation and maintenance of the topsoil, and also promotes biodiversity? How do we want the future to look?

The food debate in Norway is a jungle of claims about what we should and shouldn’t eat, how much, and why. It can be perceived as narrow, misleading, and confusing for many.

There is a need for more nuance in the debate in order to reach good solutions. This requires openness, inclusivity, and constructive discussions, where different voices are heard and more people are able to contribute with their valuable insights.

Environmentally friendly food – our work with food

In 2023 we started the project Environmentally friendly food (Miljøvennlig mat) to increase knowledge about what environmentally friendly food production is. We want to put this topic on the agenda and help more people gain a nuanced understanding of our food production systems. We want dialogue and contact with central actors.

Project manager

Mona Maria Løberg
Email: mm@naturvernforbundet.no
Phone: 97684336

Supporters of Environmentally friendly food

Other projects

We have experience with this topic through other projects. Preservation through caretaking is a project we have been running since 2019, where we among other things have restored coastal heather, which is a threatened type of nature. In the project Culturally conditioned nature we performed in-depth interviews with farmers. This work has inspired us to take a closer look at food production in Norway. It has also given us valuable knowledge that will be important in the topics we are looking at.