Case study fact sheet- PolarShiitake,Finland

Short compilation of the full case study repor

Luomua vai kestävää elintarviketuotantoa?

Koveneva taloudellinen kilpailu suosii suurtuotantoa. Myös Suomen maataloustuotannossa on käynnissä voimakas rakennemuutos. Tämä näkyy sekä maatilojen että viljelijöitten määrän vähenemisenä, keskimääräisen tilakoon kasvuna ja tuotannon lisääntyvänä alueellisena erikoistumisena. Viimeisten vuosikymmenien aikana tuotanto on myös merkittävästi voimaperäistynyt. Kasvinviljelyn hehtaarisadot ovat liki kaksinkertaistuneet, mutta maatalouskemikaalien käyttö ja energiankulutus ovat kasvaneet melkein samaa tahtia.vo

Local food and public food procurement

As part of a wider concern with sustainability issues, throughout Europe there is increasing interest in alternative food supply chains. Local and organic food (LOF) is gradually gaining ground also among institutional customers. Public food purchases are constrained by the legal framework of the EU law on public procurement. The law encourages the use of most economically advantageous tender (MEAT), which enables the contracting authority to take into account criteria other than only the lowest price. One of the restrictions in increasing the use of LOF items in institutional kitchens is the tedious procurement process. Using a case study approach, this paper explores the tendering process and its development from price-based competitive bidding towards anticipatory dialogue and interaction between the suppliers and catering personnel. The implications for SMESs are discussed. It is concluded that when the purchasing know-how is used wisely public catering constitutes a protected space for the SME:s to develop. The most important steps in increasing LOF in public catering are taken at local level. It requires local policy makers’ strategic decisions and strong commitment to long-term development work. Access to LOF items vary, and the goals in increasing the use of LOF need to be defined so as to address the case-specific circumstances and by paying due attention to the experts by experience, i.e. the actors of the catering sector and their customers. Important ingredients are the role of the path-breaking municipalities and exchange of experiences both nationally and internationally

Tutkimuskohteen esittely. Järvifisu, Kiuruvesi

Compilation in Finnish of the full case study repor

Local food and municipal food services: case Kiuruvesi, Finland

In Finland, the Kiuruvesi municipality is the pioneer in use of local and organic food (LOF) in the statutory municipal catering services. The LOF strategy is based on territorial approach, and it was adopted as one means of enhancing the attractiveness of the remotely located municipality with unfavorable population development. The local policymakers have been fully committed to the strategy, and this has enabled the consistent development during nearly two decades. The Kiuruvesi case demonstrates the gradual shift of focus in the competitive bidding process from price-based tendering towards anticipatory dialogue and interaction between the suppliers and catering personnel. Over the years the LOF concept has brought about various kinds of food entrepreneurship to the region. The case serves, therefore, also as an example of the institutional customers’ significance for the SME:s in the competitive food market

Tutkimuskohteen esittely. PolarShiitake, Rääkkylä

A compilationin Finnish of the full case study report of PolarShiitak

Institutional consumers' views of GHG emission reduction by optional milk systems within sustainability frame

An on-going study examines how Green House Gas (GHG) emission information could be used to support consumption driven changes in production, leading to reduction of GHG emissions in agriculture. This paper presents a pre-study, looking for discursive grounds by which institutional consumers make choices when confronted with the knowledge of GHG emission characteristics of five optional milk systems. The milk systems to be compared in terms of agricultural GHG emissions were (Option I) conventional milk system based on imported soy protein feed, (Option II) conventional milk system using domestic protein source and (Option III) organic milk system, as well as vegetable milk systems based on (Option IV) imported soy and (Option V) domestic oat. The discursive turn to these optional milk systems was taken by five catering information professionals, who tried to respond to the idea of catering for sustainability. The results revealed four different discourses, with variable ability to make use of emission information when systemic change is to be approached in everyday productive activities. Regarding emission information, the least sensitive discourse was the one of modernization, emphasising the use of conventional, cheap products. Sustainability and ecological modernization discourses exhibited most imaginative and novel solutions in productive activities. Bioregionalism discourse joined other discourses connecting them with the idea of domestic production. The discourses identified in this pre-study were, however, very fine-grained and intermingled, offering rather lean support for novel choices. Additionally the market position of organic milk suffered due to emission information, stressing heavily the reliability of environmental information as a ‘change agent’ on the market

Case study fact sheet. Järvifisu, Finland

Compilation of the full case study repor

Tutkimuskohteen esittely. Kiuruveden kunnan ruokapalvelu

Compilation in Finnish of full case study repor

Paikallisten lähiruokatuottajien kansallinen verkosto. Johtopäätöksiä Kestävät hankinnat ja HealthyGrowth -hankkeiden kokemuksista

The presentation examines the drivers and bottlenecks in use of local food in public catering in Finland. The SME local eneterpreneurs have difficiulties in getting foot hold in the heavily competed Finnish food markets, where two major actors dominate. It is concluded that public sector could provide an oopportunity for local producers to develop and grow. This however, requires determined co-operation both among the SME suppliers and among the suppliers and the actors of the catering sector