Public food procurement for sustainable diets and food systems: The role of the regulatory framework

Abstract

Public food procurement (PFP) programmes have been receiving increasing attention as an important policy instrument with the potential to deliver multiple benefits for multiple beneficiaries. A key characteristic of a PFP programme is that it has the possibility – depending on sound policy and regulatory frameworks – to determine not only the way food is procured but in particular (i) what food will be purchased (such as local, diverse, nutritious and healthy); (ii) from whom (e.g. from local and/or family farming producers, small and medium food enterprises, women, youth and/or other vulnerable groups) and (iii) from which type of production (e.g. from agricultural production that ensure environmental sustainability as well as biodiversity). Considering the extent of public sector demand and how these choices are made, PFP holds considerable potential to influence both food consumption and food production patterns and to deliver multiple social, economic, environmental, nutritional and health benefits to the food system that will contribute to more sustainable diets. Nevertheless, despite the enormous opportunity that PFP offers to drive more sustainable diets, the story of public procurement is often still “a tale of untapped potential”. There are many reasons for this. Among them, there is a lack of a conducive regulatory framework.By taking a multi-disciplinary approach, this paper aims to contribute to the debate on the use of PFP as a policy instrument with potential to contribute to more sustainable diets and food systems. It will do so by bringing to the debate a discussion about the role of the regulatory framework and an analysis of existing legal mechanisms (i.e. preferential procurement schemes) able to translate these policy objectives into adapted and aligned procurement rules.This study builds on existing literature in different disciplines and on three country experiences (Brazil, Paraguay and United States of America). It combines a desk review of relevant literature, reports and case studies on the subject with primary data and expert opinions on some of the country experiences collected mainly through semi-structured interviews.