Sustainable Food Procurement
This spotlight showcases innovations in sustainable public food procurement (SPFP) practices, in particular efforts to source healthy and high-quality food from small-scale farmers and food businesses in a legally sound way.
Farm-to-fork procurement toolkit
The aim of this toolkit is to provide public procurers and interested stakeholders with easily accessible legal advice on how to link the public plate with small-scale farmers and companies (SMEs) within a short food supply perspective.
The document explains the most important concepts that are addressed in the toolkit.
The document contains a list of advice in order to manage the public procurement process in a legally compliant manner.
Policy briefs
Policy Brief 1: Free school meals sourced from small-scale farmers: a win win approach for food systems transformation
Policy Brief 2: Public Food Procurement as a Powerful Tool to Boost Territorial Food Systems
Policy Brief 3: Local and Regional Governments Have a Key Role to Play in the Transition to Territorial Food Systems
“Smart Innovation for Small-Scale Producers Accessing Markets”
The Municipality of Copenhagen hosted in April 2023 a training event that took place in the town hall with the title “Smart Innovation for Small-Scale Producers Accessing Markets”. The day was packed with interesting speakers from various positions in the food value chain. From farmers to lawyers specialised in public procurement including people with expertise in contract management of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the aggregated knowledge enabled a valuable room for discussions as well as problem-solving. In the videos below some of the knowledge has been condensed. Please feel free to see and share the videos.
Betina Bergmann Madsen – Chief Procurement Officer for Copenhagen Municipality and UN Food System Champion – shares her extensive experience of writing tenders that favour small scale farmers, including a recent educational potato tender.
Peter Defranceschi – head of ICLEI’s Brussels office and Global CityFood Program Director – talks about defining small-scale farmers, how to link them to the public plate and the development of a manifesto of minimum criteria for public canteens.
Aira Sevón – Supply chain researcher and organic farmer’s wife – speaks on working with chefs, farm-to-fork, making public procurement work, and the importance of ‘culture’ in agriculture.
Camilla Varming Nielsen – organic retailer and distributor – highlights some of the challenges facing small farmers who want to work with public kitchens, the importance of human relationships, and the hopes she has for the future.
Wim Debeuckelaere – European Commission’s DG Sante – reflects on the development of food safety standards and explains what the EU is doing to support a transition to increased sustainability through the Regulatory Framework for a Sustainable Food System, including using public money to buy sustainable food.
COACH has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101000918
