Assessing public organic food procurement: the case of Zurich (CH)

Abstract

Organic food is increasingly promoted among authorities and governments to tackle global sustainability challenges and support an agri-ecological transition. An important policy instrument in this endeavour is the purchase of food or food services by public institutions, the so-called public food procurement (PFP). While PFP policies often promote organic food, few studies quantify the actual share of organic products in PFP systems. This study applies an adapted city food flow analysis to evaluate the organic share of 12 product groups in public catering, using Zurich as a case study. Based on a typology of procurement channels, we show that Zurich’s PFP system is highly centralised with internal coordinated procurement (INT–coord) and external coordinated procurement (EX–coord) providing 70% and 25% of total annual meals respectively. As Zurich procures 11% (INT–coord) and 9% (EX–coord) of organic produce, the city has considerable potential to increase organic PFP. Leverage points to this aim include internal product-specific thresholds, supply development and developments in digital procurement. This study provides a methodology to conceptualise municipal PFP systems and measure city-wide levels of organic PFP. The insights from Zurich offer a blueprint for PFP systems in other municipalities and reveal potential challenges when defining and monitoring organic PFP policies based on total purchases.