At the end of January 2021, the BioBitte initiative started publishing a series of portraits to showcase municipal and publicly accessible kitchens that have successfully increased the share of organic food they offer.
Under the slogan of BioBitte, Mehr Bio in öffentlichen Küchen (English: “OrganicPlease, more organic in public kitchens”) initiative (link to German-language website) presents regular portraits of institutions, municipalities and others involved in the production of food that have successfully increased the share of organic food used in public kitchens and canteens.
Daycare centres, clinics, student unions and other institutions have the opportunity to present their success stories and offer others tips on how best to put new strategies into practice. The information provided by BioBitte will also deliver practical assistance, such as providing local decision-makers with convincing arguments for using more organic products and helping out-of-home (OOH) catering companies and kitchen / canteen managers learn how to increase the share of organic products without incurring additional costs.
The best practice portraits can currently be submitted to the BioBitte website from the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Further regions and federal states will be added in the coming months. Those inspired by the portraits can contact the institutions featured, and receive expert answers to their questions about the transition to greater use of organic products. The portraits are also available for download.
One excellent example is the State School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, which demonstrates how it ensures balanced nutrition to best support its children’s development. Currently, 50% of the products it sources contain organic ingredients.
In addition, regularly updated information sheets published by BioBitte offer support for the transition to organic food. Some of the areas covered by the information sheets that have already published include “Organic as part of a municipal sustainability strategy”, “Arguments in favour of organic food”, “Possible uses for organic food”, “Purchasing organic food” and “Reducing additional costs”.
