29/07/2025
When Mette Frederiksen before the election came to Alstrup I was in charge of the farm. It was 2017 and I still remember the optimistic atmosphere back then. Samsø Organic was expanding, there were plans to build an eco-village, more farms and land will be acquired, young people will be becoming happy farmers attracting even more young people, more young families. There will be a Samsø Organic store in Copenhagen where all the organic producers from the island will be selling their fantastic products to the wealthy city dwellers. Organic transition was on horizon. It was happening. It was irreversible. Nobody had doubts about it. At least not that day when the future prime minister was standing among us. To be the farmer then felt like to be a rock star. Samsø Organic was supposed to become the example for the rest of the country, something like the Energy Academy is in the green energy field. Well, eight years later nobody even dares to mention eco-village, no store in Copenhagen, no new young happy people farming on Samsø. In fact, the few who tried to venture into this organic frenzy are slowly one by one pulling out. I am probably the next one on the line. So what is wrong?
Well, let’s start with the artificial prices. Although the government still want to turn the country into organic, not very successfully lately, the way how they decided to go for it, is to build few big industrial eco-agro-businesses, where only few organic commodities will be produced on huge scale and by doing so, with the help of the new technologies and subsidies, they will be able to keep the prices dirt low. I really don’t understand why, if you have hundreds or even thousands of hectares of land, contracts with all the supermarkets, why do you need some other help. Shouldn’t it be that if you don’t make enough money to sustain the business, but have what the supermarkets need, the prices must go up, or if you cannot make a living from so much land you should do something else and let the trees grow there? Why are they sending them millions every year instead? And by the way this even applies to the conventional farmers, polluting the land and waters and killing everything that moves, fly or grow, while growing raps or second class grains for pigs, which are later sold to China, they too are receiving it. Well I too receive subsidies every year. For my two hectares the government sent me 5.000 DKK but to fill up the application, like many farmers, I have to hire a consultant who understands all the terminology and so on and that person costs me 3.800 DKK every year. So to compete with the artificial prices the government sends me 1.200 DKK per year. Thank you Mette for your help. It’s truly excellent.
Second problem is the Danish food culture. The reason why the government is trying to keep the prices so low is that the public, the voters, are not used to paying for food. Although you have the highest wages in Europe (or one of the highest) for food you spend less than 10%, the absolute minimum, like if food was not important. How is it possible that in Czech in Lidl non-organic broccoli for instance cost almost the same as the one I sell in my stall? It just doesn’t make any sense. And if you go to Bulgaria, for example, where some essential commodities cost even more than here (like meat or milk) and compare it to their wages, you just wonder how these people can feed themselves. Everywhere in the civilized world France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany.., for what I produce people pay almost double. That’s why they have small farms and market gardens in every village. People there like to eat fresh, local, organic food and are ready to pay for it even though they make less money than people here. Good, fresh, healthy food in Denmark has no tradition, is not important. What’s most important here is that it costs nothing. Or maybe it's that they don't even have the option, since small local organic farms are almost non-existent in this country, people here maybe don’t even know what they should spend their money on. And this is maybe why, when they park their Tesla car in front of my stall and see the prices, they say: Oh My God it’s so expensive, and drive away.
The third problem here is the MOMS. In France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and so on, they also have artificial prices in supermarkets but for food producers the VAT is between 6% - 10%. How on Earth am I supposed to sustain my business if in last ten years everything else is more expensive, where wages are higher, in another words labor costs more, seeds cost double, my rent went double, energies, diesel, transport (being on island almost all the material I need has to be shipped here and lately it’s so costly that sometimes the transport itself cost more than the material), when everything everything went up except the prices of seasonal vegetables? Spidskål or carrots or cauliflower in Denmark today cost the same as it did 10 years ago (compared with milk for example where the price almost tripled). If I would increase my already higher prices in order to pay the 25% MOMS and to have enough money to pay good, reliable workers, nobody will buy it. Comparing the prices with Netto people will think that I am insane. From time to time I have tried to raise the prices a little but immediately I was pushed down to my knees. In order not to waste the precious stuff too much I had to lower the price again.
People also think that organic means you throw seed on the ground and it will grow itself. How romantic (or stupid is the better word). The truth is that to do what I do is extremely labor intensive. Everybody who has a garden and tries to grow his own vegetables in my high quality standards must know that it is not an easy and cheap task. In Switzerland they estimated that for horticulture like the one I do, with so many different varieties of seasonal vegetables, 4000 working hours are required per one hectare every season. It means that my two hectares organic garden should employ 4 people if they work 37 hours per week all year long winter included. Hahaha. With Danish wages, low vegetable prices and high taxes hahaha again.
People say why don’t you hire some volunteers then. This is an even worse joke. Ask Tania how much we worked and what we did. First of all you must be fit and have some skills, responsibilities, love for what you do in order to do it good and a lot of diligence or motivation. Just to withstand hundreds of horse flies bites every day you really must have a good reason not to run far away. People don’t understand that this is a serious job not everyone can do just like not everybody can be a doctor or a teacher. In a garden like mine almost everything must be done by hands. And not only that, the timing is important. In order to have fresh produce all summer, some varieties must be planted every ten days. If you are one week late for w**ding, what would take 1 hour a week ago now will take four or even more hours. Almost everything has to be covered to protect the crops from insects, birds, hares and who knows what else. This means every time you need to w**d or do row cleaning or harvest, you have to remove it and when you are done, you have to put it back. In the spring we have to use fibre cloth (fiberdug) to protect the crops from the frost or give them some boost. For some crops I am using it even in the summer, for protection but also to keep the ground moist. But Samsø is extremely windy and to play with these things every day you really have to learn what you are doing. Now they make them in such low quality that even if you know what you are doing to make holes is inevitable. This cheap s**t they make lately costs a lot of money. But if I don’t use them my salads will be small, dry and bitter instead of the juicy, crispy giants you can buy for peanuts in my shop and which will last for more than a week in your fridge. Every time I am harvesting, which is sometimes several times per day, depending on how many restaurants call for emergencies because they don’t want to buy anything in advance, I have to remove it and then put it back again. And of course it’s not only the salads which grow good underneath but also the w**ds like it there. Again more work. Even the watering is not easy here. Because of the constant winds sometimes I have to move the water machine at 2 o’clock at night when the wind is not so strong otherwise I will just waste the water and the crops will suffer. I can write and write and write.., but my point is that we are doing extreme, physical labour and if we are good, we are doing good for individuals (to eat fresh organic food is not only more tasty but also good for your body), for communities (healthier individuals means better, more productive, happier society), and lastly but not least we are doing good for ecology too, in another words we are doing something good for the future of our children. Don’t you think that we deserve to be recognised as such and be taken seriously? Why should somebody in Denmark work for free? Especially if it’s so hard but also important. And who will do it like I do anyway? Maybe to take somebody for a little help here and there okay, but to build your labor intensive business on free, unprofessional and ever changing help doesn’t make much sense.
And it does not stop there yet. In addition we have to deal with climate change too. If the year is too wet, like last year, for example, and all your early production ends up in vain, nobody cares. It’s your problem only. The weather has become so unpredictable that farming feels like a big gamble lately. And what about the rats? Have you ever thought about them? I am sure you did since they are everywhere on Samsø. And guess what, the stupid rats are not so stupid. Like some people, they also know that eating good food is good. And they know me now too. Especially if there is no one like me anywhere near. In the spring they like to take the seeded peas (sometimes I have to reseed it three times in order to get at least some of it up), the little spinach sprouts and later they really like the first beetroots. In early spring they can take it all in one go especially if I am not seeding hectares but only a few beds. Then this year they newly damaged the first glasskål, more than 50% gone, and later in the autumn they usually come to get the sweet corn, beetroots again, carrots and the centres of small broccoli. How do you stop overpopulated rats from damaging your tasty organic crops in an open field? I really have no idea. And then there are this not native, invasive species. That nasty grass is so big and so quick and in such intensive number and so inventive in survival, that if you don’t take it on time, when it is still tiny small, in two or three weeks, depending on the weather, it will just over take the entire field, creating green hell for the next season before it even starts. If you don’t believe me, come and visit, and I will show you. Not having appropriate help, being busy with harvesting and making the shop most of the time, this is what had happened. This is also the main reason why I had to run away. I couldn’t withstand it. It made me depressed to see how it ’s taking over.
It’s high season now and I had one of my best if not the best growing years, the vegetables are excellent, people like it, I should be on top of my game. Instead I am depressed and I don’t care anymore. I don’t want the little, hard earned money of which the government will take most back anyway. Put all this together and I think you start to have the picture of what one small organic farmer is going through: one endless never ending stress. Also since February working without day off and last six weeks working 16 hours every day, mostly alone, no time for cooking food, no time for shower, no time for seeing friends, losing weight, I knew I will crash the question only was when. This is not work for one man. This is not work even for two people. We have tried it with Tania. There is a good reason why last summer she said: I love you, but I cannot help you with this again. I really can’t.
But of course not everything is so dark. For instance I have learned, despite all the challenges, how to grow nice vegetables in almost every condition. Some say the best vegetables on the island. I had managed to intensify the production while shrinking the growing area. I had learnt how to grow green manure and am lately witnessing the return of the beneficial insects which vanished completely when the spraying around me was reintroduced three years ago. I have good soil to work with if I have the time or extra hands to do it. I had managed over the period of time to create a nice, supportive community. I am thankful and proud of all this. But right now it seems that I really don’t know what to do next, I feel that I have already tried everything and that the things that need to be changed I cannot change. But one thing I know for sure: I don’t want to experience what I did this summer again. Even if it means that I will have to stop the show for good and pack the circus. Enough is enough.
For those who care I am fine. I will be back on the island on Saturday night. When back I will see if I will plow everything down to the ground or if I will open again at least to sell what is left. Sorry for all the drama. But at least now you know what’s going on behind the curtain. The Facebook posts not always reflex the reality.
