OBJECTIVES

Collective catering is considered to be an important lever for a more sustainable agriculture. However, the share of organic food products in school food procurement remains small, 5.6% on average (Agence Bio, 2019), well below the objectives of the Egalim law (20% of organic products as of 2022). 

The aim of this project was to identify, at the level of the municipalities, the different socio-economic, technical and logistical factors explaining the share of organic products in school food procurement. Statistical data analysis and qualitative analyses were combined for different types of territories.

REALISATIONS

The project highlighted the wide diversity of situations: whereas urban areas benefit from superior skills (technical, human, financial), their logistics are more restrictive than those of "small" rural communities. It also shows that the supply rate is not necessarily explained by the level of local OA production.

The main results obtained are the following:

• Among the explanatory variables studied (territorial, organizational, socio-demographic and sensitivity to product quality), some are positively correlated with the share of organic produce in the school food provision (e.g., direct management) and others negatively (e.g., a central kitchen, purchase of SIQO (official quality and origin label) products). 
• At the farm level, farmers have to adapt to meet canteen demand. Some 20 solutions implemented by farmers, alone or in partnership, to overcome technical, logistical, organizational or social difficulties were identified. 

At the level of the local authorities, procurement strategies vary according to the volume required (canteen size, rate and types of organic products introduced). A threshold of 30% raw organic produce in a canteen serving more than several hundred diners seems to be a threshold above which the organizational changes involved are perceived by management as an additional burden on the normal workload, requiring internal reorganization.

Participants

INRAE Units

• Agronomy, Grignon
• SADAPT, Grignon
• SAYFOOD, Grignon

Partners

• Association Un plus bio, France