Public Food Procurement as a Driving Force for Building Local and Agroecological Food Systems: Farmers’ Skepticism in Vega Baja del Jarama, Madrid (Spain)

Abstract

In the last decade, efforts to re-localize the food system have been gaining ground in a way that is intended to induce changes in the primary sector, thereby improving its conditions and sustainability. The European Union has identified food as one of the ten key sectors with outstanding potential for an ecological transition, and public procurement of (organic) food as an appropriate policy to foster agricultural development and support small farmers. In this study, we analyze changes in land use and farming dynamics in three municipalities close to the metropolitan area of Madrid (Spain). We also explore how stakeholders and farmers perceive the driving forces of these changes and the potential for public procurement in providing stability for farmers and more specifically, boosting the articulation and consolidation of the emerging agroecological sector in an up-to-date hostile peri-urban environment. Some urban policies and food strategies in nearby cities, such as Madrid, have introduced measures to promote sustainable food in public procurement. The procurement could drive 10% of the total food grown in the Comunidad de Madrid, with large variations in the impact on different food subsectors. However, if public procurement is to be organic, local production has no capacity to meet increases in demand, except for honey and oil. Food procurement would not lead to improved stability and increases in farmers’ incomes if public policies to boost ecological transition are not adopted in parallel. For farmers, economic viability takes precedence over other problems, and although public procurement has been mainstreamed as a valuable tool to support local agriculture, stakeholders do not have high expectations for it. The research shows that farm size and specialization have a strong influence on market orientation, and the agroecological farmers and social movements that support them are primed for innovation adoption and may act as catalysts for the process.

Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Is Shortening the Answer? A Literature Review for a Research and Innovation Agenda

“…For instance, procuring local food to catering companies, introduced in public policies in many European countries, is often unprofitable for small-scale farms [77,78], yet may be an interesting opportunity for mid-scale farms to combine with sales issued from long chains.…”

Understanding regional variation in the use of local food in public catering

“…Likewise, the importance of policies has also been broadly observed (e.g. Sim on-Rojo et al, 2020;Bloomfield, 2015). While organisational details and practices may vary between countries, limited budgets are an example of a universally consistent factor (e.g.…”

“…In addition, limited resources present a challenge because price is generally the decisive factor rather than sustainability considerations (Lehtinen, 2012;Risku-Norja and Muukka, 2013). Local producers find it difficult to participate in public procurement offers (Sim on-Rojo et al, 2020) and compete on price with national and multinational companies (Lehtinen, 2012). However, by understanding and collaborating with local markets, it would be possible to foster the conditions required for local firms to bid successfully for public contracts (Bloomfield, 2015).…”

“…Overall, the potential of public food procurement has not been fully realised or understood in the transition to sustainability (Swensson and Tartanac, 2020). For example, stakeholders in the Madrid region have low expectations of public procurement, even though it has become a valuable way to enhance local agriculture (Sim on-Rojo et al, 2020). The move towards using more local food in public catering is a long process that requires the implementation of several decisions and actions to be effective (Tikkanen, 2014).…”

“…Overall, the potential of public food procurement has not been fully realised or understood in the transition to sustainability (Swensson and Tartanac, 2020). For example, stakeholders in the Madrid region have low expectations of public procurement, even though it has become a valuable way to enhance local agriculture (Simón-Rojo et al. , 2020).…”