Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI)
Raising awareness
There is a real commercial opportunity for the farming industry. However, if our producers are to play their part in this, Government and industry must work together to ensure that they can supply enough fresh and wholesome produce at the right price
Sir Don Curry, chairman of the independent implementation group overseeing delivery of the Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food
Ministerial and other communications
Written Ministerial Statement by Jonathan Shaw - Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative: report giving the proportion of UK produce supplied to Government Departments, NHS and HM Prison Service - 8 November 2007
Letter from Rt. Hon David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to Chief Executive Officers in Local Government - October 2006 (PDF 50 KB)
The letter requests support for improving the supply of food into schools under the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI) and for a national ‘Year of Food and Farming’ for the academic year 2007-08 to reconnect young people with food and the countryside and inform them of the importance of a healthy diet.
Sir Donald Curry’s address on the PSFPI. City Hall, London, 15 February 2007 (PDF 53 KB)
The address to an international conference on sustainable public sector food procurement and supply outlines some of the steps being taken to deliver the PSFPI and the current priorities
Publications
- National Audit Office’s report: Smarter food procurement in the public sector (March 2006)
Identifies areas where there is significant scope for delivering sustainability and nutritional quality in public sector food procurement in a more efficient manner.
- Proportion of domestically produced food used by government departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service - 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 (PDF 100 KB)
Figures in the report provide a rough guide to the amount of domestically produced food consumed by public sector bodies
Events
- British Food Fortnight: 20 September - 5 October 2008
Public sector procurers are not allowed to discriminate against producers from other Member States under the EC rules and therefore cannot specify British food. However, the event coincides with harvest festival time when local produce is at its most plentiful and, by specifying food that is seasonally available, buyers should be able to achieve value for money by buying quality products at competitive prices. - PSFPI Share to Supply Events
English Farming and Food Partnerships are arranging a series of Share to Supply events to inform farmers of the potential benefits of collaborating to supply the public sector - The Year of Food and Farming in education: September 2007 to July 2008
Industry-led initiative aimed at helping children and young people learn about farming, cooking food, good nutrition
Further information
- PSFPI - other useful publications and sources (PDF 200 KB)
Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat PDF documents.
Page last modified: 18 March 2008
Page published: 2 November 2004