How Federal Policies Can Scale Up the Benefits of Institutional Food Procurement Programs

The document advocates for federal policy changes in the 2018 farm bill to scale up 'good food' procurement, which prioritizes healthy, local, and sustainably produced foods. It highlights the success of the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) and identifies barriers for small farmers, such as lack of infrastructure and food safety certification costs. The brief recommends supporting the Local FARMS Act, the Food and Farm Act, and the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act to improve regional food systems, advance racial equity, and protect animal welfare.

• Institutional food service facilities, including schools, hospitals, and universities, possess significant market power, supplying approximately $120 billion of food annually in the US.
• The Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) implemented by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) demonstrates the economic and environmental benefits of 'good food' procurement; LAUSD allocates 20% of its $150 million annual food budget to local producers, resulting in a net economic impact of $48 million to $94 million and the creation of over 220 jobs.
• Local food procurement by schools provides a high return on investment, with research indicating that every dollar spent on local foods generates between $1.60 and $3.12 in net economic impact.
• Small and midsize farms face significant barriers to institutional markets, specifically a lack of infrastructure for aggregation and distribution, and the high cost of voluntary food safety certifications like Good Agricultural Practices.
• The brief recommends several legislative actions for the 2018 farm bill: consolidating regional food programs into an Agricultural Market Development Program via the Local FARMS Act, reinstating the Farmer Fair Practices Rules (GIPSA rules) and the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule via the Food and Farm Act, and providing permanent funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP).
• To address systemic discrimination against farmers of color, the document recommends increasing mandatory funding for the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (Section 2501) and increasing reserved EQIP and CSP funding for socially disadvantaged farmers from 5 to 15 percent.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2018). How Federal Policies Can Scale Up the Benefits of Institutional Food Procurement Programs. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/02/good-food-farm-bill-ucs-2018.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. How Federal Policies Can Scale Up the Benefits of Institutional Food Procurement Programs. 2018. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/02/good-food-farm-bill-ucs-2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=How Federal Policies Can Scale Up the Benefits of Institutional Food Procurement Programs |date=June 2018 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/02/good-food-farm-bill-ucs-2018.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2018how, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{How Federal Policies Can Scale Up the Benefits of Institutional Food Procurement Programs}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/02/good-food-farm-bill-ucs-2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }