f3 has assisted public sector organisations from government agencies through to District Councils, in developing strategies, policies and action plans.

Work varies from long term research tasks, such as the 3-year FLAIR project to assess the scope and scale of the local food sector, to area-specific strategies and supply chain solutions. Lately we have been involved in a number of public sector procurement studies.

Our work includes:

	helping develop sustainable procurement strategy and policy
	facilitating cross-agency working groups
	carrying out detailed market research with producers, supply chain businesses and customers
	developing practical action plans
	enabling new supply chain development

Some recent projects have included:

Analysis of Public Sector Food Procurement Opportunities for Devon County Council - undertaken to assess the extent of existing and potential local and regional supply, resulting in an action plan for the county to integrate new supply chain developments with existing initiatives

South East Food Group Partnership's PSFPI Strategy - assessment of public sector opportunities for local food producers in the South East including surveys of producer involvement and identification of barriers to entry. Study resulted in three pilot projects being developed by f3 to supply niche commodities to public sector organisations in the region (including well-publicised oily fish cakes project).

Evaluation of Good Food on the Public Plate - an evaluation of the five year project by Sustain to encourage hospitals and other public sector buyers to develop sustainable food procurement practices, with recommendations for future policy.

In 2007 we facilitated a cross-sectoral review of best practice in public sector procurement for Defra and Food Links UK, and managed workshops for the Food Standards Agency on local food.