The Power of Progressive Procurement
Public sector procurment policies can target food waste, carbon emissions, local wealth creation and more!
Manchester’s Zero Carbon 2038 target
Manchester uses a science-based approach to carbon reduction targets. Using the Tyndall centre’s SCATTER system (Setting City Area Targets and Trajectories for Emission Reduction) Manchester can accurately track emissions and mitigation. This provides a reliable system to effectively track progress towards the target of being zero carbon by 2038.
The graph above shows Manchester’s carbon budgets and actual emissions, along with predicted emissions. Manchester is currently not on track to reach the set emissions reduction targets. After each year’s carbon budget is missed, this creates a cumulative effect whereby each subsequent carbon budget has to increase with a corresponding increased rate of emissions reduction to be able to reach the target of zero carbon by 2038.
Food emissions
Despite the relatively low levels of food production in Manchester, the consumption of food and drink has been estimated to account for 16% of the City’s carbon footprint. Food has been highlighted as a hotspot for the City’s consumption-based emissions.
The Manchester Climate Change Agency in their 2021 report, ‘Incorporating Food into Manchester’s Climate Change Response’ highlighted ‘hotspots’ in the food system that require action. These included food waste, meat consumption, food security and food packaging.
Public sector procurement
Food procurement and catering across all public sector institutions cost an estimated £2.4 billion. Around £1 billion is spent on food and ingredients. Shifting procurement policies to incentivise healthier, locally sourced, and sustainable foods have the scope to transform our food system and society.
- Positive budget effects
An increase in organic, healthy, and plant-based products sourced through the public sector has shown to lower costs on public health as well as reduce waste management costs due to less food waste. When food is seen as an investment and a driver of positive change across multiple areas the benefits of progressive procurement can be valued and quantified and then justified in policy and resource provision.
Food waste reduction has an important role to reduce emissions from our food system and has been used as a crucial tool in other public sectors to generate more budget for progressive procurement policies. Food waste reduction can be the catalyst for not only more progressive procurement but also a great reduction in food-related emissions.
- Environmental benefits
Various environmental benefits can be encouraged through progressive procurement. Food waste reduction has been used to increase budgets to then focus on higher quality, nutritious and more ecologically sound produce.
Shifting procurement to use less, but higher quality meat and more plant-based items on menu all have scope to reduce the carbon impact of procurement and people’s diets.
- Local wealth creation
The average supermarket creates a job for every £124,000 turned over. The average SME food business creates a job for every £42,000 in turnover. Using this idea of local wealth creation, a 10% shift in the food retail market could yield 200,000 more jobs. Moreover, The Soil Association have shown that for every £1 invested in the Food For Life Served Here scheme (sustainable accreditation for food procurement), there is a social return of £4.41 in the wider economy. Although not all of these figures directly relate to food supply and procurement, they show that if procurement is structured in the right way then there are co-benefits to the community through local sourcing.
Case study: Copenhagen and organic food procurement policy
The city managed to reach 90% organic food in its public canteens without any increase in expenditures. The organic premium was covered by reducing food waste, buying seasonal foods, and converting to a more plant-rich diet, with less meat.
Organic public procurement also increased general sales of organic food in a private context. There was a five-fold increase in organic sales in the food service sector over a ten-year period. This also incentivised the 70% increase in organic farm area from 2011-2019.
The case of Copenhagen shows that if the right incentives, mobilisation, training and investment is made into public sector procurement and catering then there is scope for significant benefits across the food system and society. Furthermore, the food system is interconnected, and impacting one area has implications across the whole of the system and supply chain.
Focusing in on carbon reduction and reducing food waste has been shown to produce valuable co-benefits. In the case for Copenhagen, it has been a catalyst for many valuable changes across the Danish food system. ‘Good food’, being, nutritious, local, and sustainable must all be part of the same vision - and are certainly part of the same food system. A holistic, systems approach is needed to implement effective change.
This is the certification logo for organic foods. Well over 3250 eateries across Denmark are certified. To put this in perspective, many public sector institutions in the UK struggle to achieve 75% of the menu being freshly prepared. There is much progress to be made.
MFB’s public sector procurement project
The Manchester Food Board have been mapping public sector procurement across, nurseries, schools, colleges, care homes, hospitals and prisons. The aim is to understand the procurement and catering systems and what barriers exist to more progressive procurement. There is of course lots of work to be done in this area but starting the process and connecting people and areas of the food system is important. A holistic understanding of the food system can effectively inform guidance and policy. Shifting perspective to see food as both a catalyst for change and an investment into society and the wider economy is a vital part of this process.