Domestic soybeans struggle to get into schools, students drink only half a bottle of soy milk per year on average, soy milk machines fall out of favor

General News Jan 1, 1970 0 views

Getting domestic soybeans into schools is really hard! Schoolchildren drink only half a bottle of soy milk per year on average on average; soy milk machines save costs but schools don't like them

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The total area of farmland taken out of irrigation in Taiwan, China this year hit a record high. With water conditions severe today, there is an even greater need to support the drought-tolerant coarse grains industry. In order to allocate water resources prudently and raise the self-sufficiency rate of domestically produced coarse grains, the government is promoting the "Great Granary" plan, hoping to expand the area of paddy fields converted to coarse grains such as sweet potato, soybean, flax and buckwheat, with soybean as the main crop.

But the price of domestic soybeans cannot compete with imported soybeans, so the Agriculture and Food Agency launched the domestic soy milk in schools program in 2019, hoping to give soybean farmers a helping hand. The program proceeds along two tracks, "soy milk machines" and "bottled soy milk," and has already absorbed 172 metric tons of soybeans, with the volume expected to reach 500 metric tons this year, roughly one-eighth of domestic soybean output.

After deducting government subsidies, the cost for students to drink soy milk varies greatly: a soy milk machine costs only 0.45 yuan per person, but a bottle of soy milk costs 6 or 7 yuan. If the government continues to subsidize, schools with their own kitchens should promote soy milk machines more, but because of resistance from school kitchen staff, soy milk machines are currently used in only 44 schools in Hsinchu and Taoyuan, with only 18 schools added across Taiwan, China this year.

Schoolchildren readily accept freshly cooked soy milk made by a soy milk machine, but schools' acceptance is limited due to a lack of manpower (photo / Yang Yuyun)

Soy milk machines and traceable soybeans enter schools: drinking soy milk once a week costs only 0.45 yuan

At 6:30 in the morning, the kitchen of Ren-Shan Elementary School in Taoyuan is already at work. Besides preparing lunch for all 800 people in the school, the kitchen aunties this year also have to cook soy milk for everyone to drink. This is the "Safe Soybean Ingredients in Schools Program" jointly promoted by the Agriculture and Food Agency and the Taoyuan City Government, and Ren-Shan Elementary School is one of 37 pilot schools in Taoyuan.

The person in charge of implementing the program at Ren-Shan Elementary School is lunch secretary Wu Daxiang. He said a soy milk machine with a market price of more than 80,000 yuan is lent to the school free of charge, with the machine cost subsidized 60% by the Agriculture and Food Agency, 30% by the Taoyuan City Government and 10% by farmers' groups. In addition, 20 kg of soybeans are needed each week, and the school only has to bear 30% of the cost, with the city government paying the remaining 70%. The only requirement is that locally grown soybeans from Guanyin and Xinwu must be purchased.

Traceable soybeans cost 60 yuan per kg. The school side can buy 20 kg of soybeans for 360 yuan. Not counting water and electricity and other expenses, this works out to only 0.45 yuan per child to drink rich, fragrant local soy milk once a week.