Document Actions

New Nordic Food at the UN: Cooking for a sustainable future

The world’s best restaurant serves it. The world’s leading chefs make it. Now participants at the UN meetings on sustainable development in May can have a taste of New Nordic Food.

May 05, 2011
Löja
Photographer
Johannes Jansson/norden.org

The use of New Nordic Food recently gave NOMA in Copenhagen the title of best restaurant in the world.

And at the last unofficial world championship for chefs, Bocuse d’Or in France, chefs from the five Nordic countries were all in Top Ten, including Denmark at first, Sweden at second and Norway at third place.

But New Nordic Food is much more than gourmet cooking. It is all about sustainability and responsible choices for the future.

In connection with the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD19) May 2-13, the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) – the official body of cooperation of the Nordic countries – will take the opportunity to promote the concept of New Nordic Food (see more at norden.org/csd19).  

Danish chef Trine Hahnemann – author of the newly released bestseller “Nordic Diet” - is trying to set up shop in New York. One of her first assignments is a seminar on May 8th at Scandinavia House in New York for sustainable development experts.

- Among the principles of New Nordic Food is the use of high quality local produce. We also put a premium on what the season has to offer. The original concept focuses on the unique qualities of Nordic produce, of course, but the principles are applicable anywhere in the world where people care about healthy, sustainable food, says Hahnemann.

The Danish chef will also cater at EEA Signals 2011, an event sponsored by the European Environment Agency on Monday May 9 in connection with CSD19.

A new food manifesto

The manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen was written by twelve Nordic chefs in 2004. It emphasises the value of regional, authentic cooking and the importance of pure, organic produce. Food tells a story, was the main idea.

The following year the NCM decided to start a program promoting the concept of New Nordic Food. And now it is not only a success in the Nordic region, with gourmet restaurants and home economics teachers using it alike, but a growing trend worldwide.

- Local dishes, regional varieties of produce and national food traditions are gaining ground again, but with a new and stronger profile. In an increasingly globalized world, people are searching for their roots to be better able to face the world, says NCM Secretary General Halldór Ásgrímsson, former prime minister of Iceland.

Apart from the expert seminar, the NCM also organizes a side event at the UN on May 12, pointing towards the Rio+20 summit next Summer. The side event features talks by Danish Minister for the Environment Karen Ellemann and South African Minister for Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa.

For more information on Nordic Activities at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development see www.norden.org/csd19  

Contacts

Michael Funch
Phone +45 33960332
Email mifu@norden.org

Related content
  • Nordic co-operation on food

    Nordic co-operation on food aims to provide the Region's inhabitants with access to good-quality, healthy and safe foodstuffs that they can trust. Many of the Region’s food companies supply goods across national borders. Co-operation within the retail trade also transcends borders. The Nordic countries are often characterised by shared attitudes on questions related to food, e.g. which food additives are permissible, the monitoring of food in shops, and how animals are treated while they are raised, in transit and during the production process.
  • The Nordic Region is a Gastronomic Superpower (News Item)

    It's sizzling and frying in Nordic kitchens and the efforts have now been rewarded in the world championship for chefs, where all five Nordic countries were placed in the top ten. It is also a feather in the cap for the Nordic Council of Ministers' initiative, New Nordic Food.
  • New Nordic Food brands region at world's largest organic trade fair (News Item)

    Over 40 Nordic companies are taking part in BioFach 2011, the world's largest organic trade fair, which has a joint Nordic stand this year. New Nordic Food is on the way to becoming a Nordic brand with a powerful impact.
  • Danish restaurant Noma named best in world (News Item)

    Restaurant Noma in Copenhagen has been hailed as the best in the world in the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants 2010. El Bulli in Spain came second, The Fat Duck in Britain third.
  • Nordic cuisine set to conquer the world (News Item)

    Nordic cuisine is currently riding a tidal wave of success, not just at home but also internationally. Nordic gastronomy is considered exotic, exciting and new. This is emphasised by a number of gastronomical personalities in a joint opinion piece published in Denmark, Finland and Iceland.