ICLEI Europe and the One Planet Network are pleased to present the ‘Power of the Public Plate’ podcast. Each episode explores the story of a champion of public food procurement. Listeners of the podcast will learn how public authorities from around the world leverage procurement to positively impact the food value chain, ultimately contributing to sustainable food systems.

Although the power of public procurement depends on regional context and legislation, purchasers across the world hold significant power to shape food systems. The podcast showcases this perspective, with episodes that feature stories from Denmark, Italy, Brazil, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, and the USA.

In its role as one of the co-leads of the One Planet Network's Sustainable Public Procurement Programme, ICLEI supports and facilitates dialogue between public purchasers with the ambition to foster learning and create an understanding of how to use procurement strategically to reach sustainability targets.

“Public procurers are in a unique position. Their decisions shape how food is being grown and by whom, and what meals are being cooked and served to school children, public sector staff, or in hospitals. More and more public authorities are realising that they hold the responsibility and the mandate to contribute to sustainable food systems. With the Power of the Public Plate podcast, we created a platform for change agents working in public authorities to share their stories of how to do better. The podcast features the makers, the people that take action, showcasing the potential public procurement holds to create change for people and planet,” says Josefine Hintz, Officer, Sustainable Economy and Procurement, ICLEI Europe.

“Sustainable food procurement is so much more than feeding and cost-effective purchasing. In fact, it is about investing in public health, biodiversity, culture, small farmers and companies, and most of all, in the territorial community. We have created the 'Power of the Public Plate' podcast to share inspiring stories of champions who are making a real change through sustainable food procurement, and surprisingly, often spend less money.” Peter Defranceschi, Global Food Program Coordinator, Head of ICLEI Brussels Office.

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast (coming soon), Google Podcasts, or on YouTube.

For any queries, contact: josefine.hintz@iclei.org