Sustainability and local food procurement: a case study of Finnish public catering (original) (raw)
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Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022
Increasingly, policymakers are setting ambitious goals for sustainability in public procurement, integrated across different pillars. Such ambitions are apparent in public catering services, where procurement models have been shifting towards greater localisation of supply chains and purchasing of more organically grown food. To date however, few studies have examined empirically what the impacts of different procurement models are across these multiple pillars of sustainability. This research aimed to fill the gap, by measuring and comparing the environmental, economic and nutritional outcomes of different models of school meals procurement. Case studies were undertaken of ten primary school meals services in five European countries, capturing different procurement model types. Results showed carbon emissions ranged from 0.95 kgs CO 2 e per meal in the lowest case to 2.41 kgs CO 2 e in the highest case, with adoption of low carbon food waste disposal methods and reduction of the amount of ruminant meat in the menus being the most important actions for lowering emissions. In terms of economic impact, local economic multiplier ratios ranged from 1.59 to 2.46, and although the level of local food sourcing contributed to these ratios, the effect was eclipsed, in some cases, by investment in local catering staff. Meanwhile, implementation of a robust standards regime and improving canteen environment and supervision were the most important actions for nutritional quality and intake. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for integrated, sustainable models of food procurement.
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In this article complexities connected to development and implementation of policies enhancing sustainable public food procurement are discussed. The discussion is based on the analysis of twoschool meal arrangements identified as “local” and “global”with regards toa share of local and global food purchased. The qualitative data(semistructured and structured interviews)was gathered in relation to Work Packages 3 and 4 of the EU project “GLAMUR: a multidimensional performancebased approach”.Based on gathered data as well asliterature review and analysis of documentation, the critical issuesfor assessment of sustainability of the two cases were identified. Next, a comparison between them was conducted usinga multidimensional performancebased approach. According to the results of conducted analysis the “local” school meal arrangement performed better in economic and nutritional dimension of sustainability. Based on the results possibility of including and implementing new criteria...
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Public procurement has been recognized as a tool to promote more sustainable production and consumption practices. As such, an increasing body of literature has become available in recent years focusing on the sustainable public procurement of food. This article reviews the literature on the sustainable public procurement of food with the aim to analyze how sustainability is framed. This is done by analyzing what aspects of sustainability are emphasized and what practices are identified as sustainable. A systematic literature review was conducted between the years 2000 and 2020, identifying 103 articles. Results from the literature review indicate that the focus has primarily been on studies to evaluate and explore policy and good practices for procuring sustainable foods. A dominant focus on specific foods types and origins, e.g., those locally sourced and organic foods, is highlighted by a large share of the literature to address all three sustainability pillars. We observed that ...
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Journal of Cleaner Production, 2016
A focus on market-based green growth strategies to pursue sustainability goals neglects the pursuit of understanding how human health is interwoven with the health of ecosystems to deliver sustainability goals. The article argues that clarifying the difference between green and sustainable public sector food procurement, with political continuity that supports and enables policymakers and practitioners to take an incremental approach to change, makes an important contribution to delivering more sustainable food systems and better public health nutrition. Five European case studies demonstrate the reality of devising and implementing innovative approaches to sustainable public sector food procurement and the effects of cultural and political framings. How legislation is enacted at the national level and interpreted at the local level is a key driver for sustainable procurement. Transition is dependent on political will and leadership and an infrastructure that can balance the economic, environmental and social drivers to effect change. The development of systems and indicators to measure change, reforms to EU directives on procurement, and the relationship between green growth strategies and sustainable diets are also discussed. The findings show the need to explore how consistent definitions for green public procurement and sustainable public procurement can be refined and standardized in order to support governments at all levels in reviewing and analysing their current food procurement strategies and practices to improve sustainability.
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Science of The Total Environment, 2020
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A Local Gap in Sustainable Food Procurement: Organic Vegetables in Berlin’s School Meals
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Organic and local food plays an important role in the discussion of sustainable public procurement for school catering services. The present study investigates the value chain supplying school catering with organic produce, using the organic vegetable industry in the Berlin-Brandenburg region in Germany as an example. The qualitative case study employs a structuration theory approach to explore value chain actors’ perspectives and their practices. Data is collected by conducting 14 in-depth interviews with actors on different supply chain levels (farming, wholesale, and catering) and analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. The results suggest that, while organic food is generally important in school catering in Berlin, locally produced organic vegetables play only a minor role. A constraining factor is the lack of incentives for the use of locally produced organic food in the procurement guidelines, combined with a very limited budget for sourcing. Also, there are no prep...
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This study explores the integration of sustainability into public food procurement, focusing on its alignment with the EU public procurement legal framework. The study begins by providing an introduction to EU procurement law in order to highlight its relevance for sustainable public food procurement. This has been achieved by highlighting fundamental principles of EU public procurement law. Furthermore, an overview of historical EU legal developments (CJEU case law, Public Sector Directives and soft law instruments) that led to integrating sustainability considerations into public procurement is provided. The core of the study thoroughly examines several conceptualizations of sustainable food, such as organic, local, fresh, seasonal, fairly traded, and those involving short supply chains, assessing how these definitions influence procurement decisions and align with current laws. Furthermore, key legal constraints that affect sustainable food procurement are identified - including the necessity for a direct link to the subject matter of the contract, the risk of artificially narrowing competition, the prohibition against splitting contracts to avoid EU procurement rules, and limitations on purchasing ‘local’ food under EU law. Additionally, the study discusses the inclusion of farmers in public procurement processes, highlighting the challenges they face and the opportunities to enhance their participation. It underscores the particular challenges in pursuing socially responsible procurement and the barriers small farmers face in public tenders. Strategies such as dividing tenders into lots, consortia bidding, and subcontracting are proposed to rebalance farmers' positions in public procurement. Lastly, legislative changes are suggested to facilitate the wider adoption of sustainable food procurement practices. The report concludes with a synthesis of findings and recommendations for future amendments to EU procurement laws to support environmental and social objectives more effectively.