Sustainable & Efficient Food Supply Chains
Introduction
The RIEP and its predecessor the North East Centre of Excellence has been running a food procurement project since 2006, with financial support from One North East, Government Office North East and Defra. It was established in response to a recommendation contained in a report (A review of local authority food procurement in the North East of England) produced for ONE by North East Land Links (NELL).
This project finishes in July 2009, and a final report will be posted on the website at this time. We anticipate that several elements of the project will be continued through being incorporated into the wider Collaborative Procurement Programme and the Climate Change Best Practice Project.
Project Aim and Objectives
The overall aim of the project is to improve the sustainability and efficiency of the public sector food supply chain, in line with the objectives of the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI). Working with public, third and private sector partners we will seek to influence the regions current approach to public sector food procurement and the way in which it is supplied with a view to:
- Raising production and processing standards
- Increasing the number of tenders from small and local producers
- Increase the consumption of healthy and nutritious food
- Reduce adverse environmental impacts of production and supply
- Increase the capacity of small and medium suppliers to meet demand
Specifically the project will develop work in accordance with the recommendations contained within the NELL report and, in conjunction with partners from the regional PSFPI working group identify and agree further actions which might subsequently be taken forward. In brief these actions will aim to:
- Enable better access to the public sector marketplace for regional SME's
- Improve buyers understanding of the PSFPI and how they might achieve against its objectives, for example by improving understanding of farm assurance schemes.
- Improve the overall sustainability of the public sector food supply chain, for example through promoting the use of locally available and seasonal produce
- Increase the proportion of local and regional produce featuring in the regions public sector food supply chain, for example by identifying opportunities for splitting distribution and supply contracts
- Increase the ability of regional SME's to become suppliers to the public sector, for example by ensuring they are aware of and have access to training and other forms of assistance currently being made available as part of the RIEP's wider programme of work on public procurement.
For further information about the PSFPI go to http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/index.htm.
Project Activity
Click on each of the links below to find out more about each of the Sustainable & Efficient Food Supply Chains projects:
Collaborative Food Procurement Project
Durham County Council Food Procurement Project
Energy Efficiency in Catering Operations
Environmental & Social Responsibility Toolkit
Further Information
Contact Bill Kirkup, Sustainability Project Manager, telephone 07766 500054, or email Bill at Bill.kirkup@northeastcouncils.gov.uk.