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The impact of Government moves to put public sector catering out to competitive tender will severely affect some relationships between public sector catering management and staff, a range of employment issues, the skill levels of catering staff and the role of public sector catering management. The employment implications of the contracting‐out exercise in public sector catering in hospitals and schools are assessed.

The implications of government policy for public sector catering employees are considerable. Pay, conditions of service, hours of work, the effort‐bargain and staffing levels have all been altered to the general detriment of catering workers. There is now greater flexibility of working arrangements for these public sector workers, and managers find it easier to control industrial relations in this environment. Earlier results of research carried out to explore the impact of these changes are discussed and the situation assessed.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structural effects of public sector catering tender procedures and suggests improvements that would benefit clients, users and small catering firms. The essential problem is that current tender procedures have the effect of limiting clients' knowledge of possible quality and cost configurations. Thus clients are unable to reveal their preferences in tender specifications, and so bidders bid low prices and low quality.

The approach is an analysis of current procedures using concepts from market structure and asymmetric information.

The main finding is that low prices and low quality are the norm because information relating to price is more complete than information relating to quality, and because not all interested parties participate in the decision making. In addition, present procedures probably favour larger firms.

Cases of appropriate quality are not available for observation precisely because of the “lemons” problem: appropriate and better quality are driven from the market because of the nature of existing structures and procedures.

The implications of the research are that procedures should be changed in order to provide incentives for both sides to release information regarding possible configurations and preferences. The most important recommendation is that the bidding process should be undertaken in two rounds. The first round would reveal possible quality/cost configurations while the second would determine the price, as in a standard sealed bid auction.

The paper explores a problem that is of practical importance using economic theory often regarded as rather abstract.

The research (funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation) aims to support the UK Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative by working with leading contract caterers to develop principles of sustainable food procurement and key performance indicators to measure progress in putting them into practice.

Initial informal discussions with catering contractors confirmed the need for the research and explored ideas as to how to take it forward. Extensive secondary research then informed the development of nine draft principles of sustainable food procurement. These were further refined following review by individual companies. An expert panel was then convened for final drafting and to reach consensus.

The research provides operating principles that can be used to inform procurement practice. However changing organisational practice, particularly in large organizations, is challenging and will take time. The researchers have produced a guide to assist implementation and monitoring of progress.

Public sector catering is only 7 per cent of the total catering market by value. Therefore progress in this sector has a limited impact on the overall catering food supply chain. Only five of the original nine principles were adopted, so not all aspects of the sustainability agenda may be addressed.

The paper has value in assisting the implementation of UK Government policy towards sustainable food. Participants in the research are dominant within public sector contract catering and have reached consensus as to which aspects of the sustainability agenda it is feasible to progress at the present time.

A food poisoning outbreak in 1984 at Stanley Royd Hospital in Wakefield resulted in a Public Inquiry, and changes in catering policy in the public sector. Radical changes resulted in the management system, the managers and the structures and fabric of the kitchens.

Food consumption impacts heavily on the environment. It is therefore highly relevant to study food‐purchasing processes and needs for environmental information in the food supply chain. The objective of this article is to report findings from a study identifying practices in using environmental information when making decisions on what food to procure and purchase.

Using a phenomenographic approach, professional purchasing managers at food production companies and wholesalers in public and commercial food services as well as retailing were interviewed with the aim of identifying practices when using environmental information in decisions on what food to procure for purchasing.

The findings show that purchasers are dependent on corporate policy when it comes to environmental considerations related to food. Purchasers are mainly guided by business parameters with respect to price, quality and service. These factors are given priority over co‐operation along the food supply chain. Such co‐operation has been shown to have the potential to encourage environmentally friendly purchasing decisions.

The study places the issue of the use of and need for environmental information in the food supply chain on the national agenda in Sweden. Thus, the study contributes to increasing the awareness of the importance of professional food purchasers as actors for change towards more environmentally friendly food consumption.

The ways in which management strategy has developed in employee relations with particular reference to the UK catering industry are examined. A comparison is made between practices in the public and private sectors.

Offers a brief sociological sketch of some current issues in the cultural analysis of food and eating as they apply to dining out. Seeks to demonstrate the importance to everyday life of the hospitality industry in terms of consumption, employment and environmental issues.

Life is made up of debits and credits, as Kipling wrote, long accounts have to be paid — mistakes, misconduct, misdeeds, all the mischief and harm they cause, exact payment which has to be met by someone, not necessarily those that cause the trouble; all too often by innocent victims. The recent industrial strife, destruction and violence, despite the plausible excuses for it, will have disastrous results, a colossal debit in the nation's accounts; and the mass of the people, the vulnerable groups including several millions of elderly pensioners, the handicapped and sick, are under no illusions who will have to pay. The posturing defiance — “heads held high”, bands playing martial music — the complete lack of concern or regret for others will make no difference to the overtaking retribution.

In a debate in the House of Commons on February 2nd, the following Motion was proposed and agreed : – “That this House is of opinion that further steps should be taken by His Majesty’s Government to encourage cleanliness in the preparation and serving of food in retail shops and catering establishments.”