Stephen Gadd
January 11th, 2019

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Better get them while you can! (photo: Økologisk Landsforening)

A recently-published forecast from Denmark’s organic association Økologisk Landsforening reported in Finans shows that unless more farmers change from conventional to organic farming, in a few years there will be a shortage of organic food.

It will be especially vegetables, fruit, berries and corn for bread and animal fodder that will be in short supply. According to the organisation, in order to avoid this shortfall, production would have to be increased by 50,000 tonnes per day – or 50 percent.

Can’t keep pace with demand
“We can see that despite massive conversion to organic farming over the last few years we need more people to produce organic food within a number of areas,” said the association’s head of marketing, Henrik Hindborg.

Since 2015 the total area under organic cultivation has grown by 73 percent. This is first and foremost largely because of increased demand from consumers but also because of financial support schemes. Additionally, a number of farmers have been motivated to change to organic farming because they have been able to charge higher prices for their produce.

Museum targeted by thieves
Kolding’s Trapholt Museum has been very unlucky lately, with two burglaries in quick succession. On December 10 last year a 30-kilo Kay Bojesen wooden monkey disappeared, and just after midnight on 1 January this year a work by the controversial Chilean-born artist Marco Evaristti entitled ‘Rolexgate’ also went missing. Police think two people were involved in the theft of the latter and that they might have cycled to the museum. “It can’t be ruled out that the same people are behind both burglaries” said a spokesperson for Sydøstjyllands Politi. The museum is currently hosting an exhibition of the work of Kay Bojesen who is well known for his iconic wooden toy figures – especially the monkey. Not many were made in this particular size and the last time one came up on auction at Lauritz.com it was valued at 250,000 kroner. Evaristti’s work is a model of the gate to Auschwitz that includes dental gold from inmates of the extermination camp. Previously, Evaristti raised hackles by presenting a goldfish in a blender that the public were able to start if they so wished.

School hit by TB outbreak
At least 19 pupils in a 9th grade class at Sofiendalskolen in Haslev have been infected with tuberculosis, reports Sjællandske. Eighteen of the 19 have been found to have the disease in latent form. “Back in the autumn we found that a pupil in one of our 9th grade classes had contracted tuberculosis. We informed all the parents and since then we’ve been working closely with Rosikilde Hospital,” said the school’s head, Mette Løvbjerg. The disease has an incubation period of 2-3 months. The students who have the disease in latent form are not sick, but are being treated so that they cannot infect others.

Vestas eyeing up Thorning-Schmidt
After three years in the job, Denmark’s former PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt is leaving her post as administrative director of Save the Children. Her name has been proposed as a potential board-member of Vestas and the company will make a final announcement on the composition of the board at the Annual General Meeting held at the end of February. According to the company, “Vestas has found a strong candidate in Helle Thorning-Schmidt who has the core competencies to contribute to the work of the board and, through her experience, help Vestas be the global leader in sustainable energy solutions.”