Examining purchasing strategies in public food procurement: Integrating sustainability, nutrition, and health in Spanish school meals and social care centres
分析了西班牙22个学校餐和社会护理中心的可持续公共食品采购合同，发现产品、营养和健康标准优先于本地和社会标准，采购策略灵活但需与更广泛政策协调，以推动食品系统转型。
• Product, nutrition and health are prioritized over proximity and social aspects • Diverse SPFP strategies offer flexibility but need alignment with broader policies • Missing key criteria hinder food system transformation via SPFP • SPFP must balance synergies and trade-offs to achieve policy goals • Policy coherence is key to harmonize goals and foster sustainable food systems Sustainable Public Food Procurement (SPFP) is pivotal in advancing sustainable and healthier food systems. However, practical gaps persist in understanding how policies function at the local implementation. This study addresses these gaps by analysing 22 SPFP contracts for school meals and social care centres in Spain, focusing on implementation while contextualizing findings within the broader policy cycle. This research categorizes SPFP criteria in tenders and evaluate their potential for actionability across sustainability, nutrition, & health dimensions. It also explores how these criteria are combined into purchasing strategies to achieve simultaneous or individual goals. Key findings reveal a strong use of product quality criteria, particularly organic foods, supported by policy and ease of implementation. However, non-ambitious targets, market constraints and procurement officers’ limited knowledge hinder progress. The study highlights significant adoption of nutritional & health criteria, though non-mandatory policies and varying regional targets impede consistent implementation and reveal gaps in promoting healthy and sustainable dietary practices. Environmental criteria are widely used signalling policy priorities within the EU policy framework. In contrast, proximity and social criteria are underutilized due to regulatory constraints and insufficient guidance. Despite these challenges, innovative local procurement strategies are utilized to overcome barriers. At the strategy level, the study reveals diverse approaches to SPFP implementation, highlighting adaptability but underscoring the need for flexible frameworks that accommodate local variations while aligning with broader EU or national goals. This research advocates for a holistic approach to SPFP that addresses both the practical challenges of implementation and the systemic issues present in the earlier stages of policy development.