The Danish Organic Action Plan 2020: assessment method and baseline status of organic procurement in public kitchens

Abstract

Objective: With political support from the Danish Organic Action Plan 2020, organic public procurement in Denmark is expected to increase. In order to evaluate changes in organic food procurement in Danish public kitchens, reliable methods are needed. The present study aimed to compare organic food procurement measurements by two methods and to collect and discuss baseline organic food procurement measurements from public kitchens participating in the Danish Organic Action Plan 2020. Design: Comparison study measuring organic food procurement by applying two different methods, one based on the use of procurement invoices (the Organic Cuisine Label method) and the other on self-reported procurement (the Dogme method). Baseline organic food procurement status was based on organic food procurement measurements and background information from public kitchens. Setting: Public kitchens participating in the six organic food conversion projects funded by the Danish Organic Action Plan 2020 during 2012 and 2013. Subjects: Twenty-six public kitchens (comparison study) and 345 public kitchens (baseline organic food procurement status). Results: A high significant correlation coefficient was found between the two organic food procurement measurement methods (r = 0·83, P < 0·001) with measurements relevant for the baseline status. Mean baseline organic food procurement was found to be 24 % when including measurements from both methods. Conclusions:The results indicate that organic food procurement measurements by both methods were valid for the baseline status report of the Danish Organic Action Plan 2020. Baseline results in Danish public kitchens suggest there is room for more organic as well as sustainable public procurement in Denmark.

Wellbeing at work among kitchen workers during organic food conversion in Danish public kitchens: a longitudinal survey

“…The extent of organic food conversion was defined as the proportion of food estimated to be organic by the kitchen workers. During the organic food conversion, public kitchens mainly applied the official Danish Organic Cuisine Label method 8,20 to register the proportion of organic food within one of the four intervals: 0-30% (no label), 30-60% (bronze label), 60-90% (silver label) and 90-100% (gold label). The amount of processed food products was also measured as a possible indicator of the conversion process.…”

“…These strategies are effectively implemented to cover the price premium of organic food and are also strongly linked to increased sustainability. 7,8,22 Moreover, Danish public kitchens spent 400 million DDK ($53.6 million Euro) on organic food procurement in 2013. 23 With the potential to increase the demand for organic produce, organic food conversion may impact environmental sustainability in terms of soil quality, water conservation, biodiversity, limiting application of antibacterial regimes and greenhouse gas emissions.…”

“…6 The educational components in the organic food conversion projects funded by the Danish Organic Action Plan 2020 included training of the kitchen employees in planning menu-plans based on organic local and seasonal food products with legumes rather than meat, using and re-using all possible food elements and focusing on meals produced from base rather than convenience products. 7,8 Hence, implementing organic food procurement within the same budget requires transformation of public kitchen systems. 9 This may pose challenges to kitchen workers in terms of changes in the food supply, premium prices of organic foods and the extra workload required for menu-planning and food preparation as a result of decreased use of convenience foods.…”

The effectiveness of the Danish Organic Action Plan 2020 to increase the level of organic public procurement in Danish public kitchens

“…This method is based on procurement invoices over a period of three months from suppliers to calculate the organic food percentage in either monetary value or weight ( 21 ) . More detailed description of the calculation method can be found elsewhere ( 22 ) . Some kitchens, especially at baseline, were however not able to apply the Organic Cuisine Label method and hence the Dogme method was accepted ( 23 ) .…”

Organic Food in Public Catering: How the Danish Organic Cuisine Label May Maintain Organic Food Production in the Longer Term

“…1-year follow-up, due to the fact that is is based on self-reported 364 information, opening up for potential recall bias especially among the non-certified 365 kitchens. A previous study has shown how self-reported estimations of the organic food percentage by public kitchens who do not apply the calculation method behind the 367 Organic Cuisine Label tend to be overestimated(Sørensen et al, 2015). Certified public 368 kitchens may also have an easier time recalling their exact current organic food 369 percentage compared with non-certified public kitchens due to the calculation sheet 370 exercises they complete on a regular basis to fulfil Organic Cuisine Label requirements.…”