In the UK, 1 in 20 meals served is paid for by the government — in schools, hospitals, prisons, and care homes. That’s an enormous amount of purchasing power, but are we using it well? The ‘public plate’ could be a powerful lever for food system transformation, connecting what we buy and serve to public health, climate goals, and local food economies. Yet too often, public food is seen as a cost to minimise rather than an investment in people and place.

Professor Kevin Morgan has spent over 20 years researching how public institutions can — and do — serve good food against the odds. From Universal Free School Meals in Wales to innovative hospital catering and prison rehabilitation programmes, there’s a ‘good food revolution’ underway. What can we learn from what’s working? What’s holding back faster progress? And how can local authorities, policymakers, and practitioners use public procurement to drive the changes we need?

About Kevin

Kevin Morgan is Professor of Governance and Development at Cardiff University’s School of Geography and Planning. His research focuses on food sustainability, public procurement, and how cities and regions can drive change through their purchasing power. Kevin has worked with the Welsh Government, the European Commission, and the OECD on food policy and place-based innovation. He is a member of the United Nations-sponsored School Meals Coalition, which aims to ensure every child in the world has access to a healthy meal at school by 2030. His new book, Serving the Public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons, draws on over twenty years of research to show how public institutions can serve good food to deliver public health, social justice, and ecological integrity.

About Neil

Neil Ward is a co-lead of the AFN Network+ and Professor of Rural and Regional Development at the University of East Anglia (UEA). He is a human geographer specialising in agrifood and rural development. He was UEA’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (2014-21) and Director of Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy (2004-08). He’s served as a Cabinet Office advisor on agricultural policy and has appeared before numerous parliamentary select committees. Neil is author of Net Zero, Food and Farming: Climate Change and the UK Agri-Food System (Routledge, 2023).

About this webinar series

This webinar is part of a monthly series run by AFN Network+ which explores net zero in the UK agri-food system with leading movers and shakers. Expect deep and varied insight from across the sector, including farmers, scientists, policy analysts, community leaders, retailers, politicians, businesses and health professionals.