Public food procurement (PFP) programmes have been receiving increasing attention as an important policy instrument with the potential to deliver multiple benefits for multiple beneficiaries. A key characteristic of a PFP programme is that it has the possibility – depending on sound policy and regulatory frameworks – to determine not only the way food is procured but in particular (i) what food will be purchased (such as local, diverse, nutritious and healthy); (ii) from whom (e.g. from local and/or family farming producers, small and medium food enterprises, women, youth and/or other vulnerable groups) and (iii) from which type of production (e.g. from agricultural production that ensure environmental sustainability as well as biodiversity). Considering the extent of public sector demand and how these choices are made, PFP holds considerable potential to influence both food consumption and food production patterns and to deliver multiple social, economic, environmental, nutritional and health benefits to the food system that will contribute to more sustainable diets. Nevertheless, despite the enormous opportunity that PFP offers to drive more sustainable diets, the story of public procurement is often still “a tale of untapped potential”. There are many reasons for this. Among them, there is a lack of a conducive regulatory framework.

By taking a multi-disciplinary approach, this paper aims to contribute to the debate on the use of PFP as a policy instrument with potential to contribute to more sustainable diets and food systems. It will do so by bringing to the debate a discussion about the role of the regulatory framework and an analysis of existing legal mechanisms (i.e. preferential procurement schemes) able to translate these policy objectives into adapted and aligned procurement rules.

This study builds on existing literature in different disciplines and on three country experiences (Brazil, Paraguay and United States of America). It combines a desk review of relevant literature, reports and case studies on the subject with primary data and expert opinions on some of the country experiences collected mainly through semi-structured interviews.

作为一项重要的政策工具，公共食品采购（PFP）计划已受到越来越多的关注，它有可能为多个受益人带来多重利益。PFP计划的主要特征在于，它可以（取决于健全的政策和监管框架）不仅确定食物的采购方式，而且特别是（i）将购买什么食物（例如本地，多样化，营养丰富的食品）。和健康）；（ii）来自谁（例如来自本地和/或家庭农业生产者，中小型食品企业，妇女，青年和/或其他弱势群体），以及（iii）来自哪种生产类型（例如来自确保环境可持续性的农业生产）以及生物多样性）。考虑到公共部门需求的程度以及如何做出选择，PFP具有巨大的潜力来影响食品消费和食品生产方式，并为食品系统带来多种社会，经济，环境，营养和健康益处，这将有助于饮食的可持续发展。尽管如此，尽管PFP提供了巨大的机会来推动更可持续的饮食，但公共采购的故事通常仍然是“尚未开发的潜力的故事”。这件事情是由很多原因导致的。其中，缺乏有益的监管框架。公共采购的故事通常仍然是“尚未开发的潜力的故事”。这件事情是由很多原因导致的。其中，缺乏有益的监管框架。公共采购的故事通常仍然是“尚未开发的潜力的故事”。这件事情是由很多原因导致的。其中，缺乏有益的监管框架。

通过采取多学科的方法，本文旨在为关于将PFP作为一种政策工具的使用的辩论做出贡献，该政策工具有可能促进更可持续的饮食和食物系统。它将通过就监管框架的作用进行讨论，并对现有法律机制（即优惠采购计划）进行分析，从而将这些政策目标转化为适应和统一的采购规则，从而做到这一点。

这项研究以不同学科的现有文献和三个国家的经验（巴西，巴拉圭和美利坚合众国）为基础。它结合了有关该主题的相关文献，报告和案例研究的案头审查以及主要通过半结构化访谈收集的一些国家经验的主要数据和专家意见。