Chiayi County Leads the Way in Restructuring Rice and Wheat Flour Supply Demonstration Centers, Helping to Transform Food Education

In the 1970s of the Republic of China era, to support the flour industry, wheat flour food supply centers were established throughout Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan

People today take eating bread and noodles for granted, so it is hard to imagine that wheat flour foods once needed an educational unit to promote them. But for Taiwanese society more than forty years ago, which was mainly rice-eating, how to make good use of US aid to foster Taiwan's flour industry depended entirely on whether the public's habit of eating wheat flour foods became widespread. Therefore, in the 1970s of the Republic of China era, Taiwan Provincial Department of Education, with funding support from the US Wheat Associates, subsidized local governments to widely establish "bread supply centers" in elementary schools on the grounds of improving children's nutrition and enhancing students' health, and as the supplied items expanded to noodles and steamed buns, the name was changed to "wheat flour food supply centers."

According to official documents from the Taiwan Provincial Department of Education, more than forty years ago there were 13 wheat flour food supply centers established in different areas across Taiwan, serving students at more than 300 elementary schools. The baking equipment needed by the wheat flour food supply centers was sponsored by the US Wheat Associates, while kitchens and transport vehicles were jointly funded by local governments and parent associations. The Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan region, which belongs to Taiwan's rice granary, was also the area with the highest density of wheat flour food supply centers.