The government should lower or remove the VAT on organic products.

From Rasmus Prehn, CEO of the Organic Association, former Minister of Food (S) Denmark has obtained the world's greenest government. The ambitions are numerous. Among other things, we will implement a national pesticide ban to protect groundwater and thus future drinking water. We need significantly better animal welfare, and it must end with mutilating pig tails. Production animals should have more space and better conditions, and extreme breeding must stop. At the Organic Association, we cheer and welcome these initiatives. Animal welfare is important, and the government's agricultural vision largely aligns with organic farming practices—without synthetic pesticides and with animals outdoors and high animal welfare. However, more people in Danish agriculture are concerned about the ambitions. How will they be feasible in reality? Who will buy the more expensive products when demands increase? Danes have not shown the greatest interest in paying extra for animal welfare, despite TV programs emphasizing the need. Protest meeting in Horsens As recently as last Wednesday, Danish pig farmers held a protest meeting in Horsens, where they questioned how the economy can hold together when the government's policies do not simultaneously stimulate demand for organic products and better animal welfare. How will farmers then sell their products? Do we risk supermarkets simply importing cheaper meat from Poland or other countries where there is less focus on rules about pig tails, space, and animal welfare? If that happens, we merely shift the problems to other countries while losing revenue and jobs in Denmark. That is hardly the government's intention. But there is actually a way forward. It only requires the government to act. We need to stimulate demand for organic products, which precisely means better animal welfare and a farming sector free of synthetic pesticides. Danes actually want organic food, animal welfare, and a cleaner agriculture. It is often the price that stands in the way. Three out of four Danes buy organic products at least once a week. Still, organic products account for only about 12% of sales in supermarkets. This tells us one thing: many Danes want to choose organic, but they opt out because of the price. When faced with organic meat in the supermarket, it is difficult to pay 30% or more extra. A more effective approach Therefore, the government should remove or lower the VAT on organic products. If the government does this, demand will be stimulated, and Danes will find it easier to choose products that consider animal welfare and drinking water. Lowering VAT on organic products would be a much more socially beneficial, healthy, and sustainable way to spend money than lowering VAT on all goods generally, as the government is currently proposing. At the same time, it would be a much more effective way to realize the government's own ambitions. Furthermore, the government could decide that public procurement should be as organic as possible. The state has certain requirements, but there are no comprehensive ambitions for municipalities' and regions' organic purchases. Even in the new pilot scheme for school meals, there are no requirements for organic food. The government could do much more if it wanted to live up to its own ambitions. Finally, the government can incorporate organic policies into a wide range of other policy areas. For example, why are there no requirements for organic food, good animal welfare, and dietary guidelines when the state offers tax incentives for employer-paid lunch schemes? Here too, the government could translate its ambitions into concrete actions. Ideas and specific proposals are plentiful. We can indeed transition to more organic, better animal welfare, and pesticide-free production. At the Organic Association, we are very willing to assist the government with solutions. It only requires the government to act. Remember, a government is more valuable when it solves problems than when it creates them.