Across these islands, there is growing recognition that food policy cannot sit in silos. What we produce, what we serve in public institutions, and what children grow up eating are deeply connected to health outcomes, rural economies and environmental sustainability.
In Scotland, that connection is now being put under the spotlight. NFU Scotland has recently challenged its government to put Scottish produce at the centre of public procurement, particularly in schools, hospitals and care settings, arguing that without procurement reform, ambitions around food, health and sustainability will fall short. Their message is simple: public money should work harder for the public good by supporting local farmers and delivering better diets at the same time.
Here in Northern Ireland, we now have our own Food Strategy Framework and Action Plan, which sets out a strong vision for a transformed food system built around health, sustainability and economic ambition. The Action Plan for 2025–2027 focuses on partnership working across departments and identifies food in schools, nutrition standards in public settings, community food initiatives and procurement data collection as priority actions.
The Northern Ireland Food Strategy is also a welcome step. But if we are honest, they do not yet get to the heart of what is really needed: a clear, practical commitment to using public sector food purchasing to prioritise Northern Ireland produce and strengthen local supply chains.
Public procurement is one of the strongest policy levers the government has. Every day, thousands of meals are served in schools, hospitals, care homes, prisons and other public institutions. Yet too often, contracts are designed around the lowest cost and large-scale supply models that make it difficult for local producers and processors to participate. When that happens, we miss a major opportunity not just for farmers, but for nutrition, food education and regional economic resilience.
NFU Scotland is calling for a “Scottish First” approach, rebalancing procurement criteria to value quality, provenance and social impact alongside price, increasing catering budgets, and requiring transparent reporting on where public sector food is sourced. Importantly, they are also pushing for school meal regulations to actively support the use of local produce. That kind of ambition is largely absent from our current government plans.
The Northern Ireland Action Plan commits to consolidating procurement data, identifying opportunities to increase local sourcing and exploring ways to make tendering more accessible to local suppliers. The Northern Ireland Food Strategy are sensible technical steps. But without political direction on outcomes such as setting targets for local sourcing or weighting contracts toward regional produce, progress risks being slow and incremental. The same applies to schools. While the Action Plan focuses on improving uptake of school meals, piloting food theme weeks and reviewing schemes such as school milk, it does not explicitly link school food to Northern Ireland supply chains or farm education in any systematic way. Yet we know that early food experiences shape lifelong habits, and that connecting children with local food production can deliver benefits far beyond the dinner hall.
If we want to build a food culture that values quality, provenance and sustainability, as the Strategy itself aspires to, then schools and hospitals are exactly where that culture should be visible and normalised.
From a farming perspective, stronger local procurement is not about protectionism; it is about resilience. In a world of increasing supply chain disruption, relying heavily on distant sourcing for staple foods consumed in public institutions makes little strategic sense. Shorter, regional supply chains can reduce vulnerability while also keeping more value within the local economy.
There is also a social justice dimension. When local suppliers are squeezed out of contracts, rural communities lose economic opportunity. When budgets are driven down, nutritional quality often follows. Procurement policy, therefore, sits at the intersection of health inequality, regional development and farm viability, all issues the Food Strategy claims to address.
What we need now is a second phase of ambition. That means moving beyond pilots and data collection toward policy commitments that:
- Prioritise Northern Ireland produce in public sector contracts wherever legally possible;
- Properly fund catering services so that quality food is affordable within institutions;
- Actively support local suppliers to meet contract requirements rather than designing contracts that exclude them; and
- Use schools and hospitals as anchors for local food education and market development.
None of this will be easy, and it will require coordination across departments that do not traditionally see food as their responsibility. But that is exactly why the Food Strategy exists, to break down silos and deliver joined-up outcomes.
Scotland’s farmers are rightly demanding that their government match food rhetoric with procurement reality. Northern Ireland should be doing no less.
If we are serious about building a sustainable food system, improving public health and supporting family farms, then we must start with the food we choose to buy with public money. What appears on public plates sends a powerful signal about what and who we truly value in our food system.
