Science-Policy-Interface

Sustainable public catering in Hungary

How can Hungary make its public catering system more sustainable to better mainstream sustainability and support organic food production? One of the aims of the policy and scientific consultation organized by AKI is to address this question.

Countries that have provided institutional support for organic farming and regularly purchase organic products have made significant progress in developing organic markets. Hungary, however, is still at a developing stage in this area. Organic farming in Hungary is currently mainly export-oriented, focused on arable crops (e.g., sunflower, rapeseed, wheat), and heavily reliant on subsidies. Although domestic consumption of organic food is increasing, it is not yet sufficient to provide a significant incentive for farmers to transition to organic production, as prices remain high and access is limited.

Hungary aims to double the share of organically farmed land by 2027, diversify the sector, develop organic value chains and local food systems, and expand both domestic consumption and processing capacity. Greening public catering can play a key role in achieving these goals. Providing schools, hospitals, and social institutions with food made from organic and domestic ingredients can help foster this progress.

The VISIONARY and AKI initiative seeks to overcome these barriers and identify intervention points to enable systemic change. To achieve this, AKI plans to explore several key, yet under-researched, areas. These include assessing the availability and accessibility of organic food in the catering sector, examining positive health impacts, and learning from best practices in existing organic food value chains (e.g., product pathways based on organic wheat).

To this end, AKI will collaborate with key stakeholders in the catering and organic sectors to increase the share of organic food in public catering. This platform will act as a catalyst for understanding the process of building social capital and promoting mutual understanding within a complex and fragmented food system that faces numerous sustainability challenges.