27 August 2025

This digest summarises some of the key points from a Food Thinkers webinar held with Professor Kevin Morgan about his book, Serving the Public: the good food revolution in schools, hospitals and prisons, and his work with public food systems.

How public food procurement can support sustainable change

Part 1: The Agri-Food Crisis and the “good food movement”

• The global food system faces a polycrisis that includes climate change, biodiversity loss, and diet-related diseases.
• Public food procurement can be a solution. Strategically using public food procurement can help create a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable food system
• A “values-based” approach is needed to replace the current neoliberal system, which often prioritizes low cost over genuine value.
• The “good food” movement is essential, involving civil society organizations, like the Soil Association and Sustain, working with governments to improve the food system.

Part 2: A deep dive into Public Food Systems: Schools, Healthcare and Prisons

• Schools are a critical starting point, where lifelong eating habits can be formed.
• Universal free school meals are being pioneered in Scotland, Wales, and London, but England, with its free breakfast scheme – not a nutritional equivalent to a hot midday meal – is lagging behind.
• A whole-school approach is vital, linking classroom lessons with the food served in the dining hall. The city of Malmö in Sweden is an international example of this, with a policy focused on organic food and a reduced carbon footprint.
• Hospitals are set up to fail, if they are asked to provide clinical solutions to societal problems like diet-related diseases. The Shelley Review and the House of Lords report, “Recipe for Health”, called for a holistic food strategy and mandatory standards, but pockets of good practice are difficult to scale up.
• Prison food is a major issue. The “carceral diet” is linked to at least 10 serious medical conditions. The history of prison food reveals a focus on punishment rather than rehabilitation.

Part 3: Key issues for the future

• How can “good food” policies be embedded in public institutions? The importance of better regulation, evaluation and monitoring
• How can we integrate public procurement with policies that support production and consumption, such as the need to expand horticulture?.
• How can we scale up local innovations?
• How can we put the “good food” movement on a secure financial footing?

Watch the full webinar here. Kevin Morgan is Professor of Governance and Development in the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University. He has been actively involved as a researcher and a campaigner for good food policies in and beyond the UK.