###### Abstract  
Sustainable food systems have the potential to protect humans and planet health. Green public procurement (GPP) is a tool for the sustainable transformation. In Poland, the share of GPP is extremely low. As part of the StratKIT project, a survey-based research study was carried out in the city of Rybnik (Silesia Region). The aim of this paper is to diagnose the level of awareness in the field of sustainable development of the project stakeholders, and to propose further sustainable actions related to GPP in Poland. The survey was conducted in social care homes and two primary schools. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 24 software. The results show that the level of education has an impact on the assessment of the environment, and that the place of residency interferes with the level of environmental, organic and nutritional knowledge. Correlational analysis showed no statistically significant relationships between age, level of education, place of residence and willingness to introduce action connected to GPP (e.g., organic food). In conclusion, there is a need for an appropriate educational program for the public procurement and catering services (PPCS) sector, teaching about advantages of GPP for the food systems in connection to sustainable agriculture, consumption and climate actions. food sustainability; environmental awareness; public procurement; public catering; Polish canteens; Rybnik town +
Footnote †: journal: Journal of the Royal Society of London, Series B (Statistical Methodology Methodology)
The public procurement process is a significant tool when considering systems transition, which has the potential to provide a substantial influence on the market and to achieve environmental and health improvements in the public sector [8]. \"Promoting sustainable public procurement according to national priorities\" is an explicit target under SDG no. 12.7 [9]. Every year, over 250,000 public authorities in the EU spend around 14% of GDP (approx. EUR 2 trillion per year) on public procurement [10]. Green Public Procurement (EU GPP) policy offers assistance in the process of reducing the environmental and health impacts delivered from the consumption in the public sector [11]. The European Commission has developed criteria to facilitate the inclusion of green requirements into public procurement tenders for more than 20 product groups [12]. The European Commission has identified Food and Catering services as an important group with high share of public purchasing combined with the substantial improvement potential for environmental performance [8]. Although comparative studies on Green Public Procurement are still in progress [13], since January 2010 European Commission has been collecting exceptional good practices demonstrating the positive effects of \"GPP in practice\" on communities, economy, and environment. In the food and catering services sector there are examples from almost all the EU countries: Italy [14], Austria [15], Sweden [16], Latvia [17], Belgium [18], Denmark and France, except Poland. In Poland, the share of green or innovative public procurement was reported in 2020 to be 1% of the total number of public tenders awarded, while the value accounted for 7% of the total value of public contracts awarded [19]. Only 384 contracting authorities awarded 1544 contracts of an environmental or innovative nature. The application of the cost criterion using life-cycle costing took place in only 21 proceedings. In approximately 85% of cases the offer was chosen due to the lowest price criterion [19]. Among the main reasons for the low level of sustainable and innovative procurement in Poland is the insufficient level of awareness of their advantages among contracting officers, including managers and exectives [20]. The research conducted for the Polish Ministry of Environment in 2018, evaluating pro-ecological awareness and behavior of Polish citizens, shows an especially low level of environmentally friendly individual actions and consumer behavior.