The Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) provides clear standards and strategic support to empower major institutions to procure local, sustainable, fair and humanely produced foods, while improving access to healthy, high-quality food for all communities.
GFPP is a commitment by food service institutions to improve their regional food system by implementing meaningful purchasing standards in five key value categories: (1) local economies, (2) environmental sustainability, (3) valued workforce, (4) animal welfare, and (5) nutrition.
POLICY
GFPP was developed by the Los Angeles Food Policy Council in 2012, and the City of Los Angeles became the first institution to adopt it on October 24, 2012. Just weeks later, the Los Angeles Unified School District—which serves 650,000 meals each day and is the largest food purchaser in Los Angeles—became the second institution to sign on. By working with these institutions on GFPP, we aim to increase the consumption of Good Food and improve the quality of 750,000 meals served daily by LAUSD and City of LA nutrition programs and facilities.
In the same way that individuals “vote with their fork,” institutions can support their values through the producers and practices they support with their food budgets, and Los Angeles is leading the way. Making changes at LAUSD, the City of LA, and other large, local institutions can create an economic shift to increase affordability and availability of Good Food, with resulting benefit to the water, air, and public health of all. And with a clear standard to aspire to, institutions are empowered to demand better ingredients from producers and provide better meals to consumers.
IMPACT
LAUSD’s adoption of GFPP has already demonstrated how this model can drive significant changes. LAUSD now spends more money locally: In 2013, LAUSD purchased over $50 million from businesses within 200 miles, including about $10 million in produce coming from local growers. Increased demand for local businesses means new jobs: manufacturers and processers providing more food for LAUSD created over 150 new well-paying food chain jobs.
LAUSD is also changing the way its vendors do business, incentivizing them to adopt the five values into their practices so they can demonstrate to customers that they too are committed to the five values. For instance, one distributor that serves over 380 school districts, swapped out conventional wheat in some of their bread products to use more sustainable, California-grown wheat from a family farm in Central CA. We are excited to continue supporting the District in building on these achievements.
To learn more about the Good Food Purchasing Program or to inquire about opportunities for your LA-based organization to adopt GFPP, click here.
For more information about the Good Food Purchasing program, please visit: