Following a policy paper on ‘Sustainable Public Procurement of Food: A Goal Within Reach’, which presented the ‘business case’ for sustainable healthy food procurement, and key policy recommendations for using procurement for a systemic food transformation, a Farm to Fork (F2F) Procurement Manifesto aims to inspire the European Commission and the EU Member States as well as regional and local public authorities with seven actionable propositions for establishing minimum standards for public canteens in Europe.
European public canteens, and in particular school meals, are low-hanging fruit for the implementation of the EU Farm to Fork strategy. They can be catalysts for food system transformation if their public spending actions include ambitious requirements that go beyond environmental or ‘green’ requests. This F2F Procurement Manifesto, produced in the framework of the EU Food Policy Coalition, presents seven mandatory (minimum) and optional criteria for public canteens:
- Healthy Food
- Organic and Other Agro-Ecological Products
- Small-Scale Farmers Support
- Climate Action
- Social Economy and Labour Rights
- Fair Trade
- Animal Welfare Standards
About the Manifesto:
Lead author: ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.
Contributors: Produced in the framework of the EU Food Policy Coalition, in particular: Buy Better Food (BBF), Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), Eurogroup for Animals, European Environmental Bureau (EEB), European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), Four Paws, IFOAM Organics Europe, Public Procurement Analysis, Slow Food Europe.
Additional endorsements: Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE), Agroecology Europe, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), Feedback EU, Arche Noah, Urgenci, Birdlife Europe, and WWF European Policy Office.
