Food production, consumption, and waste are responsible for causing negative environmental impacts to the environment. On a global scale, the average carbon footprintCarbon footprint of food waste amounts to 3.3 GtCO2eq, which represents approximately 6% of the total greenhouse gasGreenhouse gas emissions. However, when considering the impacts associated with land use change, deforestation, and organic soil management, its impact increases to 4.4 GtCO2eq. In Italy, the Public Contract Code (Legislative Decree 18 April 2016, n. 50) introduced energy and environmental sustainabilitySustainability criteria in order to achieve the environmental objectives envisaged by the Action Plan for the sustainabilitySustainability in the public sector. Precisely, the Ministry of the Environment adopted technical specifications and contractual clauses, referred to as minimum environmental criteriaMinimum environmental criteria, for the supply of food commodities in the collective cateringCollective catering sector. The present chapter highlights the interplay between legislation, the market, and the environment through a comprehensive examination of the minimum environmental criteriaMinimum environmental criteria in Italy. The focus is on: (a) the approach of the minimum environmental criteriaMinimum environmental criteria for the achievement of environmental objectives; (b) the general guidelines for contracting authorities; and (c) the environmental criteria for awarding collective cateringCollective catering in schools, offices, universities, barracks, and hospital facilities. It demonstrates that the enhancement of the nexus between legislation, market and environment could lead both to direct (e.g., reduction of emissions, minimization of waste) and indirect (i.e., improvement of human well-being) benefits at the global and the local scale.