In the European Union (EU), the foodservice sector has been
identified as one of the 10 sectors most suitable for the implementation
of Green Public Procurement (GPP). GPP is
a voluntary policy tool that aims to promote the development
of a market for products and services with reduced environmental
impact through public demand. In Italy, the implementation
mechanisms for operationalizing GPP are Minimum
Environmental Criteria (MEC), which cover school meals, healthcare
facilities, and institutional canteens and introduce stringent
criteria relating to environmental performance, agricultural
practices, waste management, and logistics. Although current
EU policies are focused on reducing greenhouse gases, as set
out in the Green Deal, GPP makes only limited use of this
criterion, while MEC show greater attention. In this light, this
manuscript investigates the role of the carbon footprint (CF) to
estimate the environmental sustainability of one of the most
versatile commodities used in foodservice applications, namely
Fuji apples (Malus domestica Borkh cv. Fuji). The purpose of this
research is to provide guidance on which aspects to consider if
CF were to be introduced as part of the minimum environmental
criteria for public collective catering services. The CF calculation
was performed in accordance with the international
standard ISO 14067:2018 and considered 1 kg of apples grown
with integrated methods as a functional unit. Findings reveal
that CO2eq emissions associated with producing 1 kg of Fuji
apples amount to 0.099 kgCO2eq. Specifically, the majority of
GHG emissions are associated with fertilization and irrigation
activities. If the harvested apples are then stored in cold rooms
for 15 days, the CO2eq value per kg of apples increases to 0.179
kgCO2eq. From a policy perspective, the GPP should not consider
only the distance between the place of production and the
place of consumption in the assessment of the GHG emissions
of a food product but the entire production cycle, particularly its
agricultural phase.
