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Double strike for the International School Meals Day
To celebrate the Internation School Meals Day we organised two high-level events (one in Strasbourg and one in Brussels) to meet several MEPs from different parties and three European Commissioners, working respectively on Health, Agriculture and Youth. During the events youth from 9 to 17 years old, handed over the Petion for Healthy school meals for all children, with its +100.00 signtures, to the politicians, while ICLEI Europe advocates called for a broader uptake of the European Child Guarantee.
On the 25th of March Buy Better Food met with the other Urban Agenda Parnership on Food's stakholders to define the action plan setting, including, among other priorities, the promotion of sustainable food procurement.
Directive revision and supportig local actions in Belgium
The European Directive on Public Procurement has been opened to public consultation and, together with the EU Food Policy Coalition, we developed a template to assist NGOs in responding to the consultation and improve the legislation.
On the 19th of February we presented the Sustainable Food Procurement Manifesto plus some good practices to some partners of École à table (EAT) to support their mission to improve access to quality school meals. EAT's objective is to leverage the power of public canteens to simultaneously address public health issues, support the most vulnerable families and increase the chances of success at school.
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.
Sustainable food procurement: letters, events and roundtables
Early in the month, the Buy Better Food Campaign sent a letter to President von der Leyen's cabinet advocating for the establishment of minimum standards for public cantees. Eating City held its Summer Campus on food procurement culminating in the 10th Eating City Declaration and organised National Policy Dialogues to discuss challenges and solutions around public food procurement. Additionally, within Terra Madre, Slow Food organised an experts roundtable to discuss the JRC last report on sustainable food procurement.
IFOAM Youth Event, Bari (8-9 July)
We were present at the IFOAM Organic Europe Youth Event in Bari, hosted by CIHEAM Bari, with a session on Access to land, to raise awareness on the challenges for young farmers, and another session on the Role of youth in sustainable public food procurement, to explore how SPP can become a lever for change. Additionally, the Italian Local Food Policies Network endorsed our Manifesto and Nutrition Insight reported on it and the importance of minimum mandatory criteria.
URBACt Liège Sustainable Food Procurement: what? why? how?
At the EU City Lab on Public Procurement for More Local, Seasonal and Sustainable Food Peter Defranceschi (ICLEI), along with other experts from Brussels City, France Urbaine, and Manger Demain, discussed the main challenges and opportunities in sustainable food procurement. They explored the different and complementary approaches of Buy Better Food and the Freeing Public Procurement Campaigns.
Open Food Conference and Procura+
Buy Better Food organised the session “Raising the bar: public procurement role cultivating healthy, just and sustainable EU food systems” at the Open Food Conference in Leuven (Belgium), to convince the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU that sustainable public food procurement is a reality. In March, Buy Better Food also organised a session on “Transforming Food Systems through Minimum Standards” at the Procura+ Conference in Lisbon. Small changes have a big impact and cities and researchers explained to us how.
Open Letter to Ursula von der Leyen
In January 2024 the core team of Buy Better Food, together with several European organisations, sent a Joint Letter to President Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission calling for a long-lasting legacy of the EU Farm to Fork strategy through sustainable public food procurement (SFP).
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