Acquisition of family farm foods for school meals: Analysis of public procurements within rural family farming published by the cities of São Paulo state

Abstract

Objective: To assess the food profile in the public procurement within rural family farming for the acquisition of family farm foods for the National School Feeding Program in the cities of São Paulo state, Brazil. Methods: A total of 122 public procurement within rural family farming published electronically by 99 cities from January to September of 2013 were analyzed. The foods were classified in the following groups: grains; roots and tubers; legumes; meat; fish; vegetables; fruits; processed foods; ingredients; and milk. The cities were grouped into quartiles according to the number of elementary school students. The foods listed in the public procurement within rural family farming were then assessed according to city size. The Kruskal-Wallis test verified the difference between the number of foods in each group and in each quartile (p<0.05). Results: Of all the foods, the most common groups in the public procurement within rural family farming were the vegetable and fruit groups, representing 50 and 31%, respectively. The number of foods in the groups of grains, legumes, and milk in the public procurement within rural family farming increased with the number of students. On the other hand, cities with fewer students acquired more foods from the fruit group, resulting in differences between the quartiles (p<0.05). The group of processed foods was requested by 41% of the cities. Conclusion: Fresh foods were the most common types of foods in the public procurement within rural family farming, demonstrating that the acquisition of family farm products can contribute to school meal quality.