Public food procurement policies and initiatives designed to use government purchasing power and regular demand for food have gained much global attention in the last decade

The paper will consider national policies aimed at promoting health and sustainability in public sector food procurement for UK schools and their interpretation by UK local authorities. In particular it will examine the work of the Food for Life Partnership (FFLP) which has been working with schools and municipal catering services to enable children to eat good food, learn where it comes from, how it is produced and how to grow and cook it themselves. It involves children, teachers, parents and school managers and promotes greater consumption of local and organic food, with 4,200 schools enrolled in the programme and 300,000 children eating accredited meals every day. The research question is: what have been the factors promoting FFLP’s relative success following the limited achievements of the preceding Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative? This paper is based upon news and academic reports, policy documents and websites and discussions with individuals. My analysis has been informed by the discussion of success of sustainability initatives in Booth and Skelton (2011). Deloitte’s evaluation of the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative shows that this initiative achieved limited success during the years 2003 to 2007. Independent evaluation of FFLP’s has found more substantial evidence of success which includes: (1) improved eating habits among primary school age children and parents; (2) increased take-up of free school meals among low-income children; (3) benefit to local economies from increased spending on local food; (4) increased consumption of organic food; (5) increased job satisfaction among kitchen staff; and (6) food citizenship education among both primary and secondary school children.

The paper will consider national policies aimed at promoting health and sustainability in public sector food procurement for UK schools and their interpretation by UK local authorities. In particular it will examine the work of the Food for Life Partnership (FFLP) which has been working with schools and municipal catering services to enable children to eat good food, learn where it comes from, how it is produced and how to grow and cook it themselves. It involves children, teachers, parents and school managers and promotes greater consumption of local and organic food, with 4,200 schools enrolled in the programme and 300,000 children eating accredited meals every day. The research question is: what have been the factors promoting FFLP’s relative success following the limited achievements of the preceding Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative? This paper is based upon news and academic reports, policy documents and websites and discussions with individuals. My analysis has been informed by the discussion of success of sustainability initatives in Booth and Skelton (2011). Deloitte’s evaluation of the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative shows that this initiative achieved limited success during the years 2003 to 2007. Independent evaluation of FFLP’s has found more substantial evidence of success which includes: (1) improved eating habits among primary school age children and parents; (2) increased take-up of free school meals among low-income children; (3) benefit to local economies from increased spending on local food; (4) increased consumption of organic food; (5) increased job satisfaction among kitchen staff; and (6) food citizenship education among both primary and secondary school children.