Good Food on the Public Plate (GFPP) has been running as part of the London Food Strategy Local Food Infrastructure project since late 2008 and works with public sector organisations accross London to give them a range of assistance in buying and using more sustainable food. This interim report outlines GFPP’s achievements so far and sets the case for extended funding.

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This report details the outcome of the evaluation of phase two of the Good Food on the Public Plate project. This evaluation was run by F3: The local food consultants and found that without exception, participants welcomed the support the project provided. They also found that the project targets were very challenging but that there has undoubtedly been a positive, tangible contribution to increasing the level of sustainable consumption by target public sector organisations.

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Starting with a brief definition of sustainable food, the report sets out why care homes should increase the proportion of sustainable food they serve, outlines the main obstacles to and opportunities for doing this, and provides sources of more information for those interested in taking this further.

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The report of this successful two-year project shows how hospitals can contribute to happier patients and staff, a better environment and more business for local farms and food companies, just by changing the food they buy and serve. By the end of 2005, one of the four London hospitals in the project was buying almost 15% of their food from local and/or organic sources, with the others making progress and more hospitals wanting to join in. However, there were problems too, and the report outlines how they were overcome, and what more government needs to do to make sustainable food in hospitals the norm, rather than the exception.

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Report on sustainable food procurement in ‘GLA family’ catering.

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A comprehensive manual in five parts for those wishing to introduce better quality and more sustainable food and practices into the public sector. Developed by Sustain and East Anglia Food Link, the publication includes a review of food and catering in the public sector, considers what the benefits of 'sustainable food' are, has a detailed exploration of the procurement legislation, guidance for producers and suppliers wishing to supply the public sector, guidance for purchasers, advice on good catering practices, a toolkit with recipe ideas and seasonality charts, a model sustainable procurement strategy, various checklists, and a directory with over a hundred links to useful organisations. The five sections, Summary and contents (21pp), Report (89pp), Guidance (53pp), Toolkit (61pp), and a Directory (73pp) come in a robust slipcase for easy use, display and storage.

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This report, which was commissioned London Food Link, and carried out by Westley Consulting Ltd, highlights some of the distribution barriers which are facing local and organic food producers when selling to the London market, and for purchasing organisations such as hospitals to buy locally made and distributed foods.

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Public Procurement of Sustainable Food: Review of activity 2002-04

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This report attempts to act as a point of reference and set out the many policy ideas generated over recent years to support the local food sector, and to stimulate policy initiatives to complement and support activities across local and regional levels.

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Eating Oil takes a comprehensive look at how far our food travels and our dependency on imports and on fossil fuels to produce, process, package and distribute food. It shows how our food is travelling ever further both within the UK and through international trade. The fact-packed, 90-page report reveals how such trends could be reversed through industry, government and public action. In 2002 it received the prestigious Guild of Food Writers Award for Investigative Journalism, presented by Derek Cooper.

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This paper looks at what each Regional Development Agency has done, and is planning to do, to support sustainable food economies. It makes a number of recommendations for the RDAs to support sustainable food economies, and has contact details of all the RDAs and a list of relevant publications.

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In this document there are 14 examples of sustainable procurement projects and policies in the UK, 9 examples of UK-wide related initiatives, and 7 examples of initiatives in other countries.

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The issues relating to public sector catering are examined in this briefing. It considers what the benefits of greater procurement of sustainable food would be, what the constraints to greater procurement are, and the measures needed to overcome these. It has over 30 links to websites of relevant organisations and documents.

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This paper gives an overview of what local food economies are, the benefits of and obstacles to more local food, and the priority measures needed to support local food economies. It also has over 40 links to websites of relevant organisations and government departments.

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Sustain's response reveals the complex effects of supermarkets on society and why the problems they create need solutions far beyond what the Competition Commission and DTI propose.

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Five years on from the initial report into the impact of food miles, this update assesses how the debate has moved on. It includes: updated statistics and analysis of the effects of pollution, packaging, processing; biodiversity and nutrition; a review of local alternatives and recommendations for action.

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Last updated: 20/11/2009