Abstract
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 Health Diets in the communal catering arena. Capable of unleashing desirable synergies within local foodsheds, this transition pathway can potentially benefit all stages of the value chain, while also positively influencing consumer dietary behavior. Transformation, however, poses complex challenges to caterers, as it demands a shift in mindset regarding the philosophy, organization, and management of cafeteria systems as well as the need for affordable and aggregated supplies of source-identified local organic foods. This action research case study engaged the public caterer of a German University, undergraduate students, and additional stakeholders in a Living Lab to develop a weekly farm-to-table cafeteria menu, including its actual preparation, based on a conceptual sustainability standard. Hence, through an iterative process, involving two feedback cycles, an ambitious set of nutritional and procurement criteria were devised, inspired by the external input from exemplary practitioners in the field of green cuisine and procurement. The resulting meal plan was then subjected to an evaluation vis-á-vis its compliance with (1) dietary recommendations, (2) seasonality, (3) organic certification, (4) a defined foodshed boundary, (5) budget neutrality, and (6) life cycle assessment.
Highlights
Public food service or communal catering as a subset of “out-of-home consumption”refers to all eating activities that take place outside the home, including canteen settings of schools, universities, or other public institutions [1,2]
The importance of adhering to the budgetary constraints regarding the cost of goods was stressed along with the clear request to avoid sourcing from too many individual suppliers
It was stated that due to a lack of appropriate equipment, the preparation of meals could only be done on the day of their consumption, which ruled out any recovery of leftovers for the following day as well
Summary
Public food service or communal catering as a subset of “out-of-home consumption”refers to all eating activities that take place outside the home, including canteen settings of schools, universities, or other public institutions [1,2]. Public food service or communal catering as a subset of “out-of-home consumption”. According to Pfeiffer et al [3], the out-of-home sector in Germany represents a market share of 40% and is the second-largest market for food products, with a total sale of EUR 83 M in 2019 [4]. Within the EU, the public procurement sector represents around 14% of the gross domestic product [5]. Due to its tremendous purchasing power, the communal catering/public procurement complex could be a transformative driver towards sustainable food systems [6,7,8,9]. As well as the adoption of relevant criteria fostering green procurement, can benefit small and medium farmers as well as local food value chains [10,11].
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