Program 2026

Canteens that Matter: Measuring the Environmental Impact of Collective Catering

Collective catering is one of the areas where public policies directly affect people’s daily lives. Schools, hospitals and public services are where procurement decisions shape health outcomes, environmental impacts and local economies. Measuring these impacts is therefore essential to guide food policies and strengthen public demand as a driver of change.

The workshop, organised within the European campaign Buy Better Food, focuses on tools, data and methodologies to assess the environmental and social impact of catering services. Building on the experience of cities and administrations that have already implemented monitoring systems, the session offers a practical exchange on indicators, assessment models and management approaches. At a time when food system transformation is increasingly central to European policy, the ability to measure becomes a strategic lever—not only to improve service quality, but to steer public decisions towards more sustainable, healthy and responsible models.