Why we should care about food across the public sector

From school dinners to hospital meals, the food served across the public sector shapes our health, our countryside and our economy. Behind every plate is a chain of decisions about how food is grown, sourced and prepared — decisions that affect not only nutrition, but also farmers’ livelihoods, local businesses and the environment. With billions of pounds spent each year, public sector food has the power to drive a healthier, more sustainable food system — but only if it’s done right.

We have all eaten our fair share of school meals. Some may have tried hospital food too, even just a sandwich in A&E. Food served in these public institutions came from a farm or market garden somewhere. It had to be bought and brought in, prepared and served. Who produced the food, how it was grown or raised, who and how it was prepared to get onto the ‘public’ plate — be it in a school or hospital — all make a difference to food quality, and how healthy and nutritious it is for those who eat it. But these choices also shape who benefits — financially, whether they support local farmers and businesses or those further afield; economically, whether they create local jobs or send them elsewhere; and environmentally, whether they help restore nature or, at worst, harm it.

What is public sector food procurement ?

Procurement is the whole set of processes which enable organisations to identify, select, buy and control the quality of the food they need from primary raw ingredients to ready-made meals. Public sector spending on catering — across the military, schools, hospitals, prisons and government offices — is estimated to be at least £5 billion a year. That’s a huge amount of government spending power that could be used to help us eat more healthily and sustainably.

Why it needs to change

The way public bodies buy their food is a fragmented and confusing mess. Government Buying Standards for Food (GBSF) are in place — and even being upgraded — but don’t apply equally everywhere. Some bodies must follow them, while others, such as schools, use a different set altogether. Oversight of who applies which standards is patchy at best. Cost often dominates decisions, meaning food quality, animal welfare and environmental impact are overlooked. This complexity also makes it harder for smaller businesses to compete, so large national caterers and wholesalers tend to win — and benefit most from — these contracts.

At best, this £5 billion of public spending does little to support the government’s own goals, such as promoting profitable, nature-friendly farming and improving the national diet. At worst, it continues to fund ‘business as usual’ food — produced through intensive farming with heavy use of fertilisers, fungicides and pesticides — reinforcing the practices that have, over decades, damaged our soils, rivers and natural systems, and made our food system ever more fragile.

What CPRE thinks the government should do about it

Happily, the government has already made commitments which, if delivered, could transform public sector food and accelerate change in farming and the wider food system for good. Its new 25-year Farming Roadmap, published this June, and the 2025 Food Strategy, already aims to move us towards a healthy, resilient and sustainable food system. Crucially, the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto pledged to support British farmers by setting a target for half of all public sector food to be locally produced or meet higher environmental standards (HES), such as organic or LEAF certification. Yet, key opportunities to embed this target properly and fully into government policy have been missed and for no obvious reason. That’s why CPRE is calling on the government to urgently:

• Fulfil its manifesto pledge in the planned Food Strategy Action Plan to put the 50% target into policy
• Prioritise the purchase of Higher Environmental Standard food — defined as organic or LEAF certified — and support shorter, more direct supply chains that benefit local businesses and ensure fair returns for farmers and growers
• Put the revised Government Buying Standards for Food (GBSF) into legislation so they are applied consistently across the public sector and
• Align this approach with wider valuable government initiatives on land use, farming and food, to provide a wide ranging package of support for farmers and growers to produce more sustainable and local food as the demand increases.

The difference it could make

Governments produce many policies but few come with this level of public spending or potential impact. We estimate that spending 50% of food procurement in sustainable local food could redirect around £1 billion a year to farming that benefits people, nature and the climate. It could drive much needed production of vegetables, salad and pulses; and encourage new market gardens and help farms of all sizes survive in difficult times and while supporting local businesses.

To make this work, the government will need to invest upfront in local supply chains — including processing, storage and transport — as well as upgrading kitchens and training catering staff. Other countries such as Denmark have shown this can be done at minimal extra cost. If the political will is there, public food could be the catalyst for our food system to change dramatically for the better in the coming years.

Read our full report.

Local and sustainable food buying: new ideas to help British farmers