The government has approved a new Green Public Procurement (GPP) Strategy that mandates that 10% of the value of food purchased via public procurement must be accounted for by produce that is certified organic.
The strategy covers a wide range of sectors apart from agriculture, and is regarded by the government as a policy lever in achieving environmental objectives, as the state’s large purchasing power gives it significant influence in providing environmentally friendlier products.
The strategy will also use seasonality of food products as a part of the criteria in public sector food procurement.
The food categories to which the 10% organic rule will apply are cereals, fresh beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, vegetables, and dairy produce.
The new strategy, which comes with an action plan for its implementation, replaces the current system of ‘green tenders’.
The GPP Strategy has been welcomed by Minister of State for land use and biodiversity Pippa Hackett, who said “We have seen a threefold increase in both the number of organic farmers and in the area of land farmed organically.
“From now on, 10% of the value of food sought by public sector bodies under new contract arrangements is to be certified organic. We want to support a diverse organic sector, so I felt it particularly important for the strategy to provide that the 10% number should be across individual food categories, rather than the entire target being met through supplies of only one or two food categories,” she added.
The minister said the new strategy will help the state reach its target of having 10% of agricultural land in the country farmed organically by 2030.
“One of the ways we can support even more farmers to make the switch to organic is for the state to become a purchaser of organic food, and we know that public procurement has worked really well in other EU member states.”
Commenting on the seasonality factor, Minister Hackett said: “There will be times of the year that we can provide organic food much more readily, and in much greater supply, and those periods might well see much more than 10% organic food being used.
“Equally, there will of course be months when supply may be a bit lower. The key will be to hit the 10% target figure across the course of the year, and I am really looking forward to seeing our state agencies and government departments contribute to that objective,” she added.