The ‘Silicon Valley of food’, as Denmark has been renamed, has been churning out Michelin-starred restaurants for some years now, as in the case of ‘Noma‘ and ‘Geranium‘. What are the reasons for this success? Eco-sustainability and state funding to support public initiatives. Unthinkable for many countries, but not for Denmark, where food becomes a virtuous model, a philosophy to follow. The idea of sustainable change in the restaurant industry came from René Redzepi, chef and owner of ‘Noma’ in Copenhagen, who, playing with the dual meaning of “madness” and “food”, founded the non-profit organisation MAD (Danish for food) in 2011, with the ambition of transforming the hospitality industry and leading a renewal of food systems. A cradle of new trends and a mooring place for taste navigators, Denmark has made its model an international reference, synonymous with innovation and sustainability for what will be the new gastronomy scenarios. Since its inception, MAD has aimed to educate, train and inspire leaders and professionals in the restaurant and hospitality industry to preserve the health of the planet and contribute positively to the lives of those working in the sector. Its projects are financially supported by public incentives, such as the ‘Mad about Denmark’, online meetings coordinated by ‘Visit Denmark‘, the Danish tourism board, in cooperation with the ‘Danish Agriculture & Food Council’; the ‘Mad Symposium’, a (kind of) two-day gastronomic G20 open to restaurateurs and members of the global food supply chain with meetings to expand knowledge on food and nutrition; the ‘VILD MAD’, subsidised by Nordea-Fonden, on the development of new initiatives and tools to help the public connect to foraging. To boost employment in the ‘fine dining’ industry and encourage gastronomic research, a big hand has come from the Danish government (EUR 5 million over four years), which is funding the creation of the ‘MAD Academy‘ to reinvent the figure of the chef of the future, training chefs who are aware, sympathetic, socially aware and gender aware. A research and training centre in the field, open to students from all over the world and focused on teaching a more responsible, sustainable, human approach to the profession, which in turn influences the evolution of catering. The topics covered in the academy will not focus exclusively on gastronomic experimentation, but instead aim at a ‘sentimental education’ of the cook. In short, the Danish model traces the course for a new approach to gastronomy, proposing concepts that start from small producers to arrive at a ‘fluid’, more human and sustainable catering, which knocks down the old concept of a rigid model, no longer suited to the increasingly sudden changes taking place. It is therefore necessary to create new forms of contact with the customer and strive for a more transversal hospitality, in which more modern forms merge with a zero-impact circular economy that enhances resources, the territory and the people who live it. Collaboration, sharing, sustainability, territory and community: the ‘mad’ compass of food in Copenhagen points in this direction.
