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Copenhageners think spuds are duds

TheCopenhagenPost
November 24th, 2016


This article is more than 8 years old.

Capital residents eat 19 percent less potatoes than the national average

Copenhagen; Too hip for the lowly spud? (photo: ZooFari )

Copenhagen residents eat fewer potatoes than Danes living outside the capital, according to new research from Coop.

In reality, the popularity of the once staple of the Danish dinner plate is dropping across the country. A recent report revealed that tomatoes are now more popular.

READ MORE: The Danes used to say potatoes, and now they say tomatoes!

In 2009, the potato appeared in some form on every third Danish dinner plate. But in 2016, spuds only show up in one out of every four dinners.

The drop in popularity is particularly acute on the mean streets of Copenhagen, where residents eat 19 percent fewer potatoes than the national average.

“The range and variety of food in Copenhagen is much greater than what is available around the ‘outer edges’ of Denmark,” Lars Aarup, the head of research at Coop, told DR Nyheder.

Cutting carbs
Jon Fuglsang, a researcher in food consumption and associate professor at Metropol, thinks the potato has simply gone out of style as people try to cut carbohydrates.

“Consumers would like to eat more modern foods, and the potato doesn’t really fit,” he said.

READ MORE: The Danes used to say potatoes, and now they say tomatoes!

Nutritionist Marie Steenberger said that people can survive well without potatoes.

“People just replace them with extra meat or more vegetables. They may also be eating newer things such as quinoa.”


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”