Sustainable public procurement: the project of Daniel Gaitán, Daniel Carasso Fellow 2021

Colombian researcher Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi was one of the two winners in the first edition of the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, a program that seeks to support young talent and promote research in sustainable food in Spain. A second edition of the call allows us to assess the objectives that originated the birth of the same through the experience of the first Fellows. In this case, together with Daniel Gaitán, we delve into his research and development at the ICTA-UAB with his project “Sustainable Public Food Procurement in Spain. Evidence to date and opportunities for its escalation”. At the heart of it is the objective of promoting healthy menus with fresh, seasonal and local products for universities, schools, hospitals and other public centers.

The Daniel Carasso Fellowship was born two years ago from its predecessor Daniel Carasso Award as a further step in the transition towards sustainable food systems. Daniel Gaitán’s project, nominated by Esteve Corbera, a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technologies -UAB, was awarded together with Raquel Ajates’ project. A large part of Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi’s career has revolved around making visible that there are agroecological or alternative systems that have very promising characteristics in their production systems to build new futures. In addition, her research work has focused mainly on how to support agricultural transitions and sustainable food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.

On the occasion of the call for the second edition of the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, we spoke with the researcher about the work he has carried out since the award of the postdoctoral grant from the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation.

What does your research project “Sustainable Public Food Procurement in Spain. Evidence to date and opportunities for its scaling” with which you were selected in the first call for the Daniel Carasso Fellowship?

In recent years, Spain has seen an increase in the number of experiences that link local agro-ecological food systems with sustainable food procurement. There is the example of the Ecocomedores programme in the Canary Islands and the Hemengoak project in Pamplona, which aim to offer schools a diet with organic, fresh, seasonal and local products. However, and despite this growing interest in linking public markets with agroecology, there are multiple barriers that still limit a broader and more successful implementation of this instrument.

With this research project we are mapping and characterising the existing experiences of sustainable public food procurement in Spain, with the aim of making them visible to civil society, public administrations and academia. Based on the identification of these experiences, we have selected four of them to analyse them in depth. The analysis is carried out through the application of a multidisciplinary and systemic framework that allows us to identify the actors that make up each of the initiatives, their roles and functions and the challenges and opportunities that exist for their effective implementation and scaling. At the end of this project we want to provide lessons learned and practical guidance to support existing experiences and guide and inspire other actors who seek to replicate these experiences in other Spanish territories.

We believe that the development of this research project will facilitate mutual learning, contribute to connecting actors, facilitate the ownership of results and strengthen dialogue to identify areas of cooperation and collective action that can help in scaling up sustainable food procurement experiences.

Beyond the practical impact of the project, which is very important to us, we hope that at a scientific level it will contribute with new systemic and holistic approaches to investigate possible transformation pathways towards local, healthy and sustainable food systems.

Why did you become interested in Sustainable Food Public Procurement?

Local food systems based on agroecology have promising characteristics from which society can build new futures. However, these systems are commonly marginalized and do not receive economic and political support as conventional and industrialized food systems do. The question is, then, how can we promote the expansion and scaling of these systems? In this project, what we propose is to use the purchasing power of governments and the regular demand for food by public institutions as a policy instrument that promotes the scaling up of these systems. It is about using sustainable public food procurement in school feeding programs, in the acquisition of food for public hospitals, for prisons and universities, among others.

Sustainable public procurement of food has considerable potential to foster agroecological and local food production and consumption as well as to promote efficient, inclusive and environmentally sustainable short marketing chains. It can also influence the generation of income and local employment and the improvement of the quality of diets, integrating seasonal menus with organic, fresh, local, nutritious and healthy foods.

One of the objectives of the Daniel Carasso Fellowship is the generation of multidisciplinary knowledge around sustainable food, integrating professionals from different disciplines into research processes. How has the development of your research project been in the last year?

The research project has made it possible to apply a multidisciplinary and systemic framework to highlight the existing opportunities and challenges for the implementation and scaling up of public food procurement in Spain. The application of this framework has required the integration of existing concepts in public procurement, value chain management, innovation systems, food system governance and environmental sciences, as well as the mobilization of the knowledge and experience of different actors (academia, social organizations, companies, public officials, and civil society) involved in the transition of food systems in the Spanish territory.

What has it meant for you and your project to have been awarded the Daniel Carasso Fellowship? How have you evolved this year as a fellow?

I applied for the Daniel Carasso Fellowship because I thought it was an excellent opportunity to undertake this research project on sustainable food from the perspective of agroecology. From the moment I read the call and came into contact with the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, I saw that we share the same vision on how to transform food systems from an integral, holistic, democratic, solidary and agroecological vision.

Beyond deepening my conceptual and practical knowledge about the transition in food systems and sustainable food procurement, the Daniel Carasso Fellowship has allowed me to be part of a network of actors committed to joining their efforts to guide the transition towards sustainable and healthy food systems. It is clear that the transformation of food systems requires collective action beyond academia and the generation of knowledge that contributes to and enriches the debate on what the food transition we want should look like.

Similarly, the Daniel Carasso Fellowship has allowed me to consolidate myself as a key postdoctoral researcher in the LASEG group (Laboratory for the Analysis of Socio-Ecological Systems in a Globalized World) of the ICTA-UAB; It has allowed me to develop links with other departments of the university and other institutions focused on food systems research. In addition, it will increase my chances of obtaining a permanent place within the University. The latter is not minor, given the current precariousness of working conditions in academia. The Daniel Carasso Fellowship is presented as a benchmark for supporting young researchers committed to systemic research on sustainable food in Spain.

What has this project contributed to the department you are in?

Although the LASEG group maintains the same general research objective, the specific objectives have been adjusted according to the experience and knowledge that my involvement provides. The group incorporated an additional emphasis on innovative approaches to food system transitions, which translates into the adoption of new innovative and multidisciplinary concepts and methodologies in this field of study. This new line of research will make existing alternatives to conventional food systems more visible and will provide convincing and contrasted evidence on strategies to move from a systemic and holistic perspective towards sustainable and healthy eating.

Give us three reasons why we should encourage the scientific community to participate in this program with their research projects.

• The Daniel Carasso Fellowship offers a great opportunity to consolidate the scientific careers and leadership of young postdoctoral researchers in Spain committed to guiding efforts for the transition to more sustainable and healthier food systems.
• The importance of the Daniel Carasso Fellowship lies in the possibility of venturing into a territory commonly known as multidisciplinary and systemic research that addresses the complexity of food systems.
• The Daniel Carasso Fellowship offers the opportunity to develop research projects with a high social impact beyond academic excellence.

Key data of the call

• Call for nominations open until March 10, 2023.

• Two grants endowed with €160,000 each for the recruitment and support of research activities.

• Aimed at researchers from any scientific discipline and nationality, with postdoctoral experience of 2 to 7 years

• Candidates must be nominated by an established researcher from a university or research centre in Spain, public or private non-profit.