At the Copenhagen Lab, we know that chefs in restaurants and canteens are important actors in the food system, with an important impact on who wins and loses in the game of growing and selling food. Our working theory is, the more chefs know about the impact of their procurement, the better able they are to act as agents for sustainable food system transformation, by sourcing ingredients with a positive impact.

We are developing a new tool that shows how much organic Danish farmland supplies participating canteen and restaurant kitchens. The resulting quantification of local, organic land area can be used as a new metric of success, giving professional kitchens the opportunity to see their current and potential impact on sustainable local agriculture, and work towards a more positive impact on the local foodshed by targeting more local, organic, seasonal, plant-based production through their procurement.