The Buy Better Food Campaign
for sustainable food on the public plate
We are a Europe-wide coalition of more than 100 members, calling for public procurement rules that work for the environment, consumers, and workers, and that provide healthy food to all European citizens in public places such as schools, hospitals and elderly care homes.
Our Vision is that, by 2030, Europe's food system is healthy for both people and the planet, based on sustainable and fair food production on healthy land, providing healthy food for all.
Sustainable Food Procurement can play a pivotal role in driving food system transformation in Europe and beyond.
Timeline
Public Procurement and Collaboration
On 15 November, during the Organic Food event co-organised at the European Economic and Social Committee together with Organic Cities, IFOAM OE, ICLEI ES, and Demeter, we presented alongside France Urbaine the Brussels Declaration, a shared vision to transform food systems harnessing the power of public food procurement. If you are curious to know more about it, check out our EURACTIV article "Organic Food and Procurement: Driving EU Food Systems Forward." Additionally, Buy Better Food met with MEP Cristina Guarda's team to explore future collaboration opportunities rural-urban divide and sustainable food procurement.
Urban Agenda Partnership and EU Directive Workshop
On 21-22 October Buy Better Food joined the Urban Agenda Partnership on Food in Milan to kickstart brainstorming the key topics and actions the UAP Food would like to carry out in the future. Later, on the 30 October, together with the EU Food Policy Coalition's task force on food procurement, we organised the first FPC & BBF joint workshop to explore the challenges and opportunities of the EU Procurement Directive revision and lay down the foundation for a shared understanding and demands.
Buy Better Food in the media
Public procurement has the opportunity to incentivise more organic, sustainable and local production, leading to healthier diets and a fairer distribution of food in society. It is therefore high time that the EU sets targets to promote organic, sustainable and regional food in public canteens, in hospitals and in schools!
Sarah Wiener, Former MEP (Greens), chef and organic farmer
Procurement officers are one of the keys to making tenders more sustainable. We have a unique opportunity to create the much needed changes to the food system. As a procurement lawyer and public purchaser you can bring the political goal to life through small changes in the tender document, which may be decisive in making the food chain more sustainable (also in distant countries).
Betina Bergmann Madsen, Chief procurement officer in the municipality of Copenhagen
Public food has the enormous potential to create a virtuous interplay between economic development and social inclusion, bringing to the front the unique role of local authorities in shaping up new (and much needed) constituencies around the objectives of sustainable development.
Roberta Sonnino, Professor of Sustainable Food Systems at Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey
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