New food policies of Polish cities. From school kitchens to green public procurement

• At the Municipal Farm in Wrocław, 70 tons of organic food were produced last year from 2.5 hectares of crops. It was used by children in municipal nurseries.
• In Rybnik, green tenders for food supplies are successfully carried out - it is quality, not price, that plays the first role here.
• Other cities are also implementing their own food policies, including Kraków, Rzeszów and Grodzisk Mazowiecki.

Creating urban farms, school gardens and counteracting food waste, introducing green public procurement, i.e. providing food for schools or social welfare homes from local producers - this is what the food policy of cities could look like.

Why is this important? Because the population of cities is growing. By 2050, according to UN estimates, 70 percent of the world's population will soon live in cities. The area of ​​crops will shrink; already today, agricultural land is very often designated for development.

Local food policies are therefore becoming an increasingly important element of development strategies , also in Poland. CoopTech Hub (the first cooperative technology centre in Poland, run by PLZ Spółdzielnia) has just published the report "Cities for food sovereignty", which shows what actions local governments can take to support Polish agriculture and which solutions are already being effectively implemented.

For example, Rzeszów is currently working on the concept of a market hall as an urban interface for agriculture. The topic of food has been included in the city's development strategy, combining spatial planning with the local economy. Another example of good practice is Rybnik .

- We have our own kitchens in 58 schools and kindergartens, we have never given them up. We also have a central kitchen for the nursery complex, which also feeds 150 residents in the Municipal Social Welfare Home - says Monika Kubisz from the City Office in Rybnik . In the Department of Development and Cooperation, she deals with the topic of sustainable consumption and responsible public meals.

He emphasises that the city has managed to significantly reduce the level of food waste - in half of the facilities it does not exceed 10%, and schools and kindergartens donate uneaten meals to community fridges.

Public procurement is also organized in Rybnik, in which the quality of food is primarily assessed . This was already the case in 2021 during the tender for certified organic fruit for the Municipal Social Welfare Home. A representative of the Rybnik city council explains that this was possible because it was previously possible to convince municipal institutions to make changes that brought savings.

In the previous main tender for food orders, we managed to persuade both the director and the specialist for public procurement to reformulate it - they gave up about 200 kg of meat, introduced new vegetables, for example, there were no zucchini before, introduced products, not semi-finished products. The cooks started baking only cakes, making mayonnaise, sauces, and this generated savings, thanks to which this already specific tender for fruit with an organic certificate was possible

- says Monika Kubisz.

Rybnik also promotes reusable dishes - including city reusable cups with a deposit , which have become a strong part of the local landscape and are an essential element of city events and festivals. Rybnik is now planning to promote reusable dishes for takeaway meals.

Grodzisk Mazowiecki is planning similar practices.

We will be introducing kitchens to schools again from September. We also want to introduce a quality criterion in tenders

- announces the mayor of Grodzisk, Tomasz Krupski.

It draws attention to another element of the cities' food policy - the need to protect agricultural land from building pressure, which applies especially to areas located close to the capital. This is especially important now, when municipalities are working on general plans.

We are very keen to not give in to the strong pressure to erase agricultural lands . Agriculture is necessary, it must be protected and I am the last person to say that money is the most important thing

- says Krupski.

Two Polish cities ( Wrocław and Kraków) have signed the Milan Pact. This is a declaration by cities that they will develop and then implement a sustainable food policy.

In May 2024, Wrocław - as the first city in Poland - launched an urban farm in cooperation with the University of Life Sciences, where vegetables are produced for children from Wrocław nurseries with respect for the environment and preservation of biodiversity. Last year , 70 tons of food were produced from 2.5 hectares of crops. The project was financed from funds for professional activation, because the farm employees are people who were unemployed or at risk of unemployment.

It would be best if we managed to implement a plan like this: a farm, a processing plant and a warehouse. Then we could talk about a city that is self-sufficient, maybe not 100%, but 80%. Warehouses are a topic that should be more present in our discussion

- says Katarzyna Wysocka , coordinator of the urban food policy project at the City Hall in Wrocław.

- We need to stop wasting food and start growing it - admits Katarzyna Przyjemska-Grzesik from the Municipal Greenery Board in Kraków.

The "Edible Kraków" program being developed in Krakow includes housing estate gardens, community gardens (there are already 30 of them) and educational spaces - vegetable gardens have also been reactivated at 40 schools.

The planned Good Food Cooperative is to support local gastronomy and short supply chains. An allotment garden will soon be opened - a combination of a community garden and an allotment garden.

In the first year we talked about the edible city, about the fact that the city is edible, not only for people but also for animals, that we have the potential of host plants in the city, such as old apple trees, which are remnants of orchards, that we can use this, that food in the city is edible. Last year, the leading theme of Edible Krakow was a common table and relationships. And this year, our leading theme is locality, because without local producers and without local markets it simply will not work.

- says Katarzyna Przyjemska-Grzesik.

Research by the Institute of Food Strategies "Grunt" shows, among other things, that:

• 72 percent of Polish women and men fear a reduction in the availability of food products in the next 10 years;
• 31% declare that they are unable to provide their families with high-quality food;
• 62 percent believe that the state does not provide enough support to domestic food producers.

That is why - according to experts on public nutrition - a National Food Policy is needed.

Just as city adaptation plans for climate change are mandatory, so too should food policies be mandatory for cities with more than 100,000 residents. For example, there could be a provision on green public procurement . This would support local farmers, which could also mean that there will be less pressure to convert agricultural land for development.

- suggests Katarzyna Przyjemska-Grzesik.

The Mayor of Grodzisk mentions that the National Food Policy could indicate good practices to follow and provide tools to protect agricultural land from development.

Monika Kubisz from the Rybnik City Hall adds that it should also contain a database that would help local governments make decisions.

- Questions about who and how will produce food for us, what quality this food will be, are becoming increasingly important. Unfortunately, as consumers we rarely ask ourselves these questions. That is why it is so important to stimulate consumer awareness on the one hand, but also to awaken or rebuild our consumer relations with food producers - says Dr. Paulina Sobiesiak-Penszko, president of the Grunt Institute of Food Strategies.

The Institute has just launched a social campaign called "Polish Plate of the Future" . One of its elements is an appeal to build a more resilient food system, which is to be submitted to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development next week.

We call for local food policies in the 100 largest municipalities, for the development and promotion of short supply chains and local intermediation. We postulate the localization of public procurement, support for markets and local food origin labels.

- emphasizes Dr. Paulina Sobiesiak-Penszko.

The article was based on statements by participants of the “Cities for Food Sovereignty” congress, which took place on June 5, 2025 in Warsaw.