Classes suspended for two weeks, organic vegetables for school lunches lose their outlet, farmers estimate losses exceeding ten million

(0207 update: The logjam in school lunch vegetables continues, agricultural distribution channels report they cannot cope, farmers appeal to all sectors for assistance, see here)

The Ministry of Education, in response to the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic in China, announced that the start of the school term for senior high schools and below, originally scheduled for February 11, would be postponed by two weeks to February 25. The sudden suspension of classes has left organic vegetable farmers who supply vegetables for school campuses' nutrition lunches at their wits' end. An estimated three hundred-plus metric tons of organic and traceable produce vegetables will have nowhere to go, a major blow to farmers. Farmers estimate that agricultural losses across Taiwan will exceed ten million.

Organic vegetable farmer Chen Fengyi said that the organic vegetables purchased for nutrition lunches are varieties rarely seen on the market, such as black-leaf bok choy and Hiroshima greens, and their specifications differ from ordinary ones. When growing vegetables for school nutrition lunches, each plant is about 80-120 grams, but for shipment to general retail channels, each plant must be kept under 70 grams. In addition, organic vegetables are priced high, so sending them to ordinary auctions would also make them hard to sell; if they cannot be sold, there is no choice but to plow them under.

Yunlin young organic farmer: No supporting measures for the postponed school start, agricultural losses could reach ten million

Zhuang Laoda, deputy director-general of the Agriculture and Food Agency, said that the number of senior high, junior high and elementary school children in the country is about 1.8 million, and nutrition lunches use 350 metric tons of short-term leafy vegetables every day, of which organic vegetables and traceable produce vegetables account for about thirty-plus metric tons. Based on this, the organic and traceable produce vegetables affected by the two-week postponement of the school start amount to about three hundred-plus metric tons.

Chen Fengyi, president of the Yunlin County Young Farmers Association, grows organic vegetables specifically to supply school nutrition lunches. Hearing the Ministry of Education's sudden announcement of the postponed school start, he said the epidemic is an unforeseen natural disaster, and production will have to be rescheduled. But the vegetables originally meant to supply school nutrition lunches starting February 11 have already been planted, and large-scale harvesting was expected to begin on February 7.