Core team members
The Buy Better Food is led by a core team comprising nine NGOs, each with sound expertise in fostering sustainable public food procurement and driving the transition towards sustainable food systems. The members of the core team are in constant exchange. In a joint effort, they are involved in advocacy and awareness-raising activities, draw attention to Buy Better Food’s concerns at public events, keep an eye on the political agenda and pass on concrete demands to policymakers. The group’s goal is to advocate for sustainable food procurement at both local and European levels.
ICLEI Europe
The ICLEI European Secretariat is a European network working with more than 160 regional and local governments committed to sustainable urban development. ICLEI supports municipalities in implementing measures and projects supporting the European Green Deal, the overarching EU strategy for climate neutrality, to build more resilient and equitable communities. ICLEI ES sees food as an entry point for systemic change and urban sustainability decisions and supports cities in improving local food environments through concrete measures including the introduction of changes in public food procurement processes. ICLEI Europe currently leads the largest EU-funded project on school meals and sustainable food procurement, SchoolFood4Change.
EPHA
The European Public Health Alliance advocates for better health in Europe! EPHA brings together public health civil society organisations, including health professionals and patient and disease groups. Together with this unique and diverse membership, EPHA aims to improve health and strengthen the voice of public health in Europe. The Alliance’s vision is of a Europe with universal good health and well-being, where all have access to a sustainable and high-quality health system; a Europe whose policies and practices contribute to health, both within and beyond its borders.
IFOAM Organics Europe
IFOAM Organics Europe is the European umbrella organisation for organic food and farming. For more than 20 years, IFOAM Organics Europe has been and continues representing organic in European policymaking and advocating for a transformation of food and farming. IFOAM’s work is based on the principles of organic agriculture: health, ecology, fairness and care. With almost 200 members in 34 European countries, the work of IFOAM Organics Europe spans the entire organic food chain from producers, processors, certification bodies, research centres and distributors.
Fondazione Ecosistemi
Since its foundation in 1998, Fondazione Ecosistemi has worked in a pioneering way to concretely transform its actions towards environmental and social sustainability. As Italy's leader in GPP - Green Public Procurement - and in green and circular procurement, the foundation collaborates with private companies, public administrations, local authorities and third-sector organisations to introduce ecological and social criteria in purchasing, reduce environmental impacts of production, protect decent work along supply chains, ensure gender equality, improve risk management and foster eco-innovation.
Mensa Civica
Mensa Cívica, founded in 2016, is a Spanish association that gathers diverse stakeholders of the food supply chain (producers, distributors, catering companies and self-managed kitchens, social organisations and professionals) in order to promote a new paradigm that integrates sustainability, health, sociability and other cultural aspects in collective catering. The association’s main activities focus on research, awareness-raising and training activities, project management, and advocacy on key issues at both national and European level, such as strategic public procurement.
Skutečně zdravá škola
The Skutečně zdravá škola program (Really Healthy School programme) is a whole-school-approach educational program fully integrated into the day-to-day activities of the school. Its aim is to create a healthy and sustainable food culture that values food, makes food enjoyable, and teaches children where food comes from and how it is produced. The programme has promoted inspiring examples of good sustainable practices for 85+ thousand children in over 500 schools in the Czech Republic, who now eat healthier food and learn about the principles of sustainable food production and consumption.
Sustain UK
Sustain is the Alliance for Better Food and Farming, based in United Kingdom Working with its members and supporters, Sustain campaigns for a healthy and sustainable food system which is publicly accountable and socially and environmentally responsible. Sustain is campaigning to make all public sector food in the UK reflect a sustainable, healthy diet which supports a transition to agroecology.
Organic Cities
Organic Cities is the common home where cities and municipalities develop strategies for sustainable food systems. The long-term goal of Organic Cities is that all inhabitants have indiscriminate access to fresh, affordable, seasonal and organically grown regional food. In particular, Organic Cities collaborates with EU institutions to promote and influence EU initiatives for organic agriculture and organic food in Europe and in the world. It also provides a platform for the development of local, regional and national policies and relationships that ensure a strong basis for organic food production in towns and cities across Europe.
Eating City
The mission of Risteco-Eating City is to promote "Social Dialogue for a more sustainable food supply chain" in business and public discourse. This dialogue aims to help EU residents, food businesses, governments, and cities to reconsider food issues with a focus on the impact of food on health, the environment, and the economy. Eating City emphasises empowering people early in their working lives to become the catalysts for shifting the paradigm towards more sustainable food systems. It also produces guidance and research for a more sustainable food system in the public sector.
Coalition members
The Buy Better Food coalition encompasses local governments, civil society organisations, academia, and other active supporters of the campaign. Together with, and with support from the core team, the coalition is Buy Better Food’s primary body that democratically determines the campaign's overarching directions. Members of the coalition meet every three months to review ongoing initiatives and outline plans for the upcoming stages of the campaign. The coalition is also a space for all its members to share experiences, exchange information and mutually support each other in striving for more sustainable public procurement.
External partners
Led by:
Funded by:
