Procurement for Good team explores questions around dynamic food procurement and catering for sustainable school meals in Stroud.

On 15th October 2025, the Procurement for Good team gathered at The Long Table in Stroud for a rich and productive research study visit exploring dynamic food procurement systems, and learning about innovative projects trying to make a difference to public sector food provision.  

The session opened with a presentation on the current landscape and learning around dynamic food procurement. The group then dived into a roundtable discussion around the opportunities and challenges of articulating the complex land to policy and how some of this could be address using technological solutions for public sector food buyers.

The second half of the session introduced an initial typology of dynamic food procurement systems, suggesting this could help frame where open-source tools like Open Food Network's (OFN) digital marketplace can make a real difference.

Later in the day, we were joined by Maisie McBagley, Managing Director of The Great Plate, who gave an inspiring and grounded talk on her work providing nourishing meals to 14 schools in the Stroud area. Rooted in The Long Table ethos, The Great Plate began through a Holidays and Activities Food (HAF) programme and has since expanded into full-term provision. Working with suppliers like Wildfarmed and local farmers, Maisie’s team crafts seasonal meals from scratch—“except Fridays. You have to use the captain’s fish fingers,” she joked.

Maisie highlighted the challenges of improving school meals within the constraints of current contracts and staffing. She offers short-term, flexible contracts to schools, providing an alternative to standard catering models that often rely on processed, low-quality food. Her team uses a digital recipe system and works hard to source ethical ingredients, but she noted that high-welfare meat and skilled kitchen staff remain key challenges.

Maisie’s approach exemplifies the kind of grassroots, values-led food system that the Procurement for Good project seeks to support.The day wrapped up with reflections on collaboration, and a renewed commitment to building tools and systems that connect ethical producers to public procurement in meaningful, scalable ways.

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