Introduction
Green procurement, in this case of food, would seem to be a fairly simple concept. It would involve developing supply chains that delivered goods (food), of a type and in a way, which minimized the impact on the environment. Minimizing environmental impact would seem, at least initially, to be a reasonable working definition of “green” in this context. As with many things, however, the situation is not that simple, because surely it cannot be a term that is solely related to environmental sustainability? Environmental
sustainability must also be politically, economically, socially and technologically sustainable. We must therefore look at greenness or sustainability in a broader context, particularly when investigating something as complex as the food supply chain. And looking at this chain by its very nature, involves the examination of the life cycle of the product, food, from the thought of “what are we going to produce” through to the disposal of the waste. The question of what does green or sustainable mean, and does the consumer care are important, and form the initial focus for this paper though are not dealt with in depth as this has been done elsewhere.