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....
Background and objectives: Kindergartens and schools are an important consumer of food in Slovenia nationwide, and they are obliged to the public procurement of food. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the consideration of nutritional...
A public food procurement policy has been identified as having significant potential to drive food consumption and production towards greater sustainability, delivering social, economic, environmental, and health benefits to multiple beneficiaries. H...
Public food procurement has been emphasized as a powerful tool to promote a healthier and more sustainable food system, but there is still a long way to go to reach full potential. This study aimed to investigate practices and opportunities for susta...
This paper describes a research project, carried out in an Italian public school, to assess whether parents were willing to take part in food procurement decisions, as well as their ability to accurately predict what foods children would pick at scho...
Urban public food procurement can address malnutrition and improve the beneficiary experience at public institutions whilst reshaping food systems to be healthier and more sustainable. We reviewed grey and peer-reviewed literature on urban public foo...
In the last decade, efforts to re-localize the food system have been gaining ground in a way that is intended to induce changes in the primary sector, thereby improving its conditions and sustainability. The European Union has identified food as one...
Alternative food systems have occupied a steady niche in the food systems transformation discourse as one of the transformative pathways capable of addressing many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Being one of the alternati...
This paper examines how public food procurements contributes to sustainable rural livelihoods through local sourcing of school food, what has become known as ‘home-grown’ school feeding. Specifically, it draws on in-depth interviews to ex...
Public food procurement policies and initiatives designed to use government purchasing power and regular demand for food have gained much global attention in the last decade [...]
The last few years have seen the emergence of different initiatives designed to promote the biodiversification of agroecosystems as a counterpoint to the global expansion of homogenized industrial agriculture. In Brazil, two food procurement programs...
This study aims to explore and compare Brazilian public institutional food services’ characteristics concerning the implementation of the government policy for the procurement of food from family farming (FF) and the opinions of food service managers...
Smallholder farmers from developing countries are among the most vulnerable populations facing high food insecurity. Participation in agri-food value chains can offer a valuable pathway out of poverty for millions of poor households in these regions...
The food system is responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the majority originating from livestock. Reducing our meat consumption is thus an important part of achieving necessary reductions in emissions, and reaching children...
Public procurement of food is crucial for ensuring proper nutrition and the provision of high-quality products in public institutions like schools and kindergartens. It should be seen as an investment in health promotion, particularly for young child...
Sustainable food systems have the potential to protect humans and planet health. Green public procurement (GPP) is a tool for the sustainable transformation. In Poland, the share of GPP is extremely low. As part of the StratKIT project, a survey-base...
Despite the extensive literature on Local Agro-food Systems (LAFS), which involves research on local food identity and organisational proximity, the environmental sustainability of these systems has rarely been addressed. This paper develops a new co...
Mandated policies to improve food environments in public settings are an important strategy for governments. Most Australian governments have mandated policies or voluntary standards for healthy food procurement in healthcare facilities, however, imp...
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 vegetabl...
This article presents a case study of the application of the Soil Association’s Food For Life Catering Mark at two universities in England: Nottingham Trent University and University of the Arts London. This procurement initiative has had noteworthy...
There is a rising awareness of the power of the public sector in enhancing sustainable consumption and production practices, in particular related to food procurement and its social, ethical, economical and environmental implications. School meal ser...
The healthcare system’s climate footprint is equivalent to 4.4% of global net emission. The food service offered, with subsequent food waste production and energy consumption, falls within the spectrum of environmentally harmful activities. The devel...
The agri-food system needs to transition into a more balanced system that takes into account economic, social, and environmental factors. Young people are a key demographic group to consider as they are open to new trends of consumption, including su...
The purchase of food from family farming in public institutions in Brazil was boosted by the implementation of the public call modality. The National School Feeding Program—PNAE— and the Food Acquisition Program—PAA— are world...
Reducing the climate impact of food provided for residents in nursing homes is challenging, as the diets for older, frail adults must be high in protein content and energy density while at the same time ensuring that the meals are palatable and recog...
In advanced economies, most food waste occurs at the downstream stages of the supply chain; within the EU, it has been estimated that 64.57% of food waste occurs at the consumption stage, with about 5.4 million tons (9.45% of the total) being generat...
Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS)—locally available, climate-resilient species—possess significant nutritional, social, and environmental benefits, yet their use, research focus, and market presence have diminished over time. Inco...
School meals play a critical role in supporting students’ biopsychosocial growth, development, learning, academic performance, and the establishment of healthy eating habits. In public institutions, food procurement is conducted through formal...
Green public procurement (GPP) is a policy tool aiming to achieve environmental protection and resource reservation via public procurement. After decades of adaptation, what promotes and hinders its uptake in public contracting remains difficult to d...
Balancing the adoption of environmentally sustainable food systems in Australian healthcare and aged care settings whilst meeting nutritional requirements has never been more critical. This scoping review aimed to identify: the major authoritative re...
Green Public Procurement (GPP) became an efficient instrument to achieve the objectives of environmental policy expressed by the European Commission in its Communications. At the same time, it must be addressed by the public authorities as a complex...
Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brazilian public schools closed in 2020. This lockdown stopped the provision of school meals to public school students, most of whom belonged to low-income families facing food insecurity. To guarantee the st...
Public procurement has been highlighted as an important strategic tool to drive sustainable development. The present study aimed at providing direction for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) by 25% for the food purchased by child-care centers...
Due to its purchasing power, the public food service sector is viewed as a potential transformative driver towards sustainable food systems. Organic meal planning and regional procurement may be a vital implementation strategy towards Planetary Healt...
24 January 2024
Insufficient access to enough quality food remains a public health challenge in South Africa. This study aimed to report the influence of community and the household environment, food system inventories, and food procurement on household food securit...
This article seeks to analyze the public procurement program for school feeding in Distrito Federal, Brazil from the perspective of short food supply chains (SFSCs) and quality construction. Semi-structured interviews were applied to key actors invol...
27 August 2025
Farm-to-school (F2S) partnerships connect schools with local producers to enhance student access to healthy, local foods and support regional food systems. Despite widespread implementation, few studies have examined the system-level structures that...
There is a raising of concerns about the need to change environmental behaviours through economic and social activities. Education plays a significant role in this process, with schools enhancing the necessary behaviour adoption by youngsters and the...
Background: The current food system is unsustainable, making it essential to address the issue globally through adequate policies and sustainable development goals. The European Union aims to dedicate 25% of farmland to organic farming by 2030 to pro...
The role played by women in worldwide food production and food security has reinvigorated debates about the recognition of women’s rights in the rural sector regarding better working conditions and the reduction of gender inequalities. In the 1...
Background and Objectives: School-focused public food procurement and service policies (SPFPs) are increasingly being recognised as interventions that can improve the nutritional quality of food served in schools amidst growing overweight/obesity and...
High sodium intake is estimated to cause approximately 3 million deaths per year worldwide. The estimated average sodium intake of 3.95 g/day far exceeds the recommended intake. Population sodium reduction should be a global priority, while simultane...
Smart cities leverage information and communication technologies to enhance urban life quality, essential in densely populated environments requiring comprehensive planning. A critical area in urban settings is food production and delivery, where eff...
The structure of the grain-and-oil-food-supply chain has the characteristics of complexity, cross-regionality, a long cycle, and numerous participants, making it difficult to maintain the safety of supply. In recent years, some phenomena have emerged...
Background: This study investigates the efficacy of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels (FOPNLs) as a cost-effective tool for improving dietary choices among Greek consumers. The purpose of the study was to investigate Greek customers’ preferences a...
Beverages is a broad and important category within the food industry, which is comprised of a wide range of sub-categories and types of drinks with different levels of complexity for their manufacturing and quality assessment. Traditional methods to...
While policies targeting education in schools, marketing campaigns, and taxation strategies are of great importance to tackle our population’s malnutrition, there is growing concern about enhancing the supermarket environment to promote healthi...
This study examines the progress, challenges, and successes in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG12), focusing on responsible consumption and production, using Qatar as a case study. The State has integrated Sustainable Consumption and...
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend twice-weekly consumption of seafood for health benefits, yet many U.S. consumers have historically fallen short of this target. The economic and societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic brought co...
Background:Klebsiella pneumoniae is a highly dangerous microorganism that presents significant challenges to effectively eliminate in food production facilities, making it a serious and urgent public health concern. The wet markets of Hong Kong repre...
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