The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s recent report Public Food Procurement for Sustainable Food Systems and Healthy Diets makes a strong case for how institutional food procurement, with a strong emphasis on school food programs, has great potential to transform food systems to be more sustainable.
On page 2, the report states “Over the past decade, national, regional and local governments in various low-to high-income countries have been developing public food procurement (PFP) initiatives that use public purchasing power and a regular demand for food as a policy instrument to promote sustainable development. Such initiatives are increasingly being recognized as an important “game changer” – an entry point to promote the development of more sustainable food systems and the adoption of healthy diets.”
The report “compiles contributions from internationally renowned scholars working in the field of public food procurement. It explores the multiple benefits that public food procurement can bring to various beneficiaries and analyses how it can contribute towards sustainable food systems and healthy diets.”
Contributed papers include:
- Public food procurement as a game changer for food system transformation (p. 1)
- Public procurement and the Sustainable Development Goals (p. 80)
- School food procurement and making the links between agriculture, health and nutrition (p. 100)
- The use of geographical indicators in public food procurement: the example of Italian primary schools (p. 160)
- Public procurement for farming system diversification (p. 248)
We’re encouraged to see the UN FAO recognize the potential of public purchasing in schools! You can check out the report here.
