Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

Public procurement of locally sourced food: a COACH case study – Bergamo, Italy

In Bergamo (Italy) the catering service for public canteens ‘SerCar’ purchases a significant proportion of the raw materials from the Bergamo Organic District of Social Agriculture, which has resulted in more than 95% of the food served in schools being organic. Bergamo’s Organic District aims to be an example of a sustainable food system, supplying safe, organic and quality produce to consumers, and respecting the rights of the workers. Additionally, SerCar has been collaborating for years with a whole range of associations with social purposes. For instance, the catering company is able to supply fresh bread made by prison inmates through the ‘Sweet Free Dreams’ project. Finally, SerCar puts in place programs to educate children on the food system of their region, and as a part of these programs, pupils visit the Organic District of Bergamo.
 
Bergamo is one of 5 case studies analysed in the Public Procurement toolkit (https://hub.urgenci.net/resource/legal-guide-on-farm-to-fork-procuremen…) to show how it is possible to purchase locally produced food in a legally compliant way with substantial benefits to the local economy and food system resilience and sustainability. Each city has succeeded in strengthening short food supply chains with different procurement strategies that could be replicable in other contexts across Europe. For more on Bergamo and other good practices across Europe, see https://hub.urgenci.net/public-procurement/
Source Project
COACH Collaborative Agri-food Chains: Driving Innovation in Territorial Food Systems and Improving Outcomes for Producers and Consumers
Completed | 2020-2023
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
United Kingdom
Project details

Project Keywords