As I discovered fairly quickly upon arriving, going out to eat in Copenhagen is expensive! Even though I was warned about this before departing, I didn’t believe it until 2 weeks into my semester when I realized that going to eat out in restaurants or fast-food places frequently was unsustainable for both my diet and bank account. I was forced early on to learn how to navigate through Danish grocery stores and work at cooking with the local food. Fortunately, thanks to globalization, the food variety found in grocery stores was not too unfamiliar to the things we can find in the U.S. There were a lot more food items I learned to cook with that I never had before – such as rhubarb and a series of Smørrebrod ingredients.

Due to Danes’ high emphasis on sustainability, there were a lot more plant-based food options available to me than what I was accustomed to. Being vegetarian myself, I was extremely shocked to discover how much easier it is to be vegetarian here than it is back in the States. Where cooking vegetarian meals for myself was tedious back at home, here it is super easy as a bunch of vegetarian options are provided in most of the grocery stores and restaurants.

What I love most, however, is that there is a small grocery store on about every block in Copenhagen. Netto, similar to Aldi, is only a two-minute walk from my apartment building. This makes it super easy to get the ingredients I need for the day. Being able to buy the specific ingredients I need to make for every meal was super helpful in reducing food waste, as I visited Netto almost every day to get the things I needed for that night’s meal rather than bulk buying for the week. In addition, the Danish food standards apply to every grocery store. So, even though Netto sells very cheap food compared to other stores like Irma or Fakta, the quality of food is still the same. It feels good knowing I can eat healthy food for such an affordable price. Overall, cooking has quickly turned into one of my favorite things to do in Copenhagen (which will come as a shock to anyone that knows me:)).