Scotland is missing out on a huge opportunity to support its farmers and improve food in schools and hospitals, NFU Scotland has warned, calling for urgent reform to public sector food procurement ahead of the development of a final Food Nation Plan.
In a new paper, Putting Scottish Food First, the union says current procurement practices fail to put locally grown food at the heart of public institutions, despite the potential economic, social and nutritional benefits for the country’s farmers, growers, growers and local communities.
The intervention comes as the Scottish Government prepares to unveil the final version of its National Plan for Good Food, following the release of a draft earlier this year.
NFU Scotland said the draft set out an ambitious vision for healthier and more sustainable food, but overlooked one of the most powerful tools available to the government – using the purchasing power of the public sector to prioritize fresh Scottish produce in settings such as schools, hospitals and care homes.
NFU Scotland chairman Andrew Connon said the current system was insufficient. “Public procurement should be a driver for improving diets, strengthening local economies and making the agriculture and agro-industrial sector more resilient, but this is not the case at the moment,” he said.
“Scotland has the talent, the produce and the ambition, but without meaningful procurement reform we will not be able to realize our vision of a Good Food Nation.”
To explore the issue further, the union held a procurement roundtable with the Public Sector Catering Alliance in late November, bringing together caterers, suppliers and stakeholders.
Discussions highlighted both barriers within existing procurement rules and opportunities to strengthen local supply chains, with insights from the sessions feeding directly into the union’s recommendations.
The report pointed to recent decisions such as terminating contracts with long-standing local suppliers and moves to increase meat-free days as examples of a lack of consistency throughout the procurement process.
NFU Scotland said such a decision risks undermining the country’s supply chain and is concerned about the objectives of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2021. At the same time, he acknowledged the financial pressures facing caterers and said budgets needed to reflect the true cost of providing quality food.
Changes called for include a ‘Scotland first’ approach to public sector food purchasing, a recalibration of contract award criteria to better reflect quality, origin and social value, and mandatory annual reporting on the value and origin of food purchased by public bodies.
NFU Scotland is also calling for catering budgets to be increased in line with inflation and for school meal regulations to be reviewed to include Scottish produce wherever possible.
With thousands of meals served every day in Scotland’s schools, hospitals and care homes, the union claims that even modest changes to procurement can have big benefits for local producers while improving food education and food outcomes.
Mr Connon said farmers were ready to respond if the system changed. “Scotland’s farmers, croppers and growers are ready to feed the nation with fresh, healthy and sustainable food,” he said. “What we need now is clear political leadership and a procurement system that values Scottish produce, not just the cheapest option.”
He warned that without reform, the goal of a Good Food Nation was at risk of not being achieved. To provide that, “we have to start with the food we serve in our own public institutions,” he said.
