Campus Lunch Reversal: 65-Day Report Released

By Chen Ju-wei (co-founder of the Campus Lunch No-GMO Action)

On November 30, 2014, the day after the nine-in-one elections ended, in the article "After Today, Campus Lunches Will Begin to Be Different" [1], we published the list of 81 elected candidates, including heads of 12 counties and cities, who had signed the pledge for non-GMO campus lunches, and called on all voters to jointly monitor whether they would fulfill their promises after taking office; on February 2, 2015, on the day the newly elected heads had been in office for 65 days, a total of 18 counties and cities nationwide had joined the response, and several heads even clearly stated their implementation timelines. Looking back on the course of the action, it can be said with certainty that although there is still a long road ahead, the current situation of campus lunches in Taiwan is undergoing a comprehensive reversal thanks to our collective efforts!

Heads Continue to Join After the Election 18 Counties and Cities Nationwide Have Already Responded

Before the election, some questioned that candidates signing the "non-GMO campus lunch" pledge was merely campaign strategy, intended to create an image of concern for food safety issues in order to win voters' favor; however, post-election developments directly dispelled such doubts.

Among the 22 counties and cities nationwide, only 12 local heads had originally responded to this action. After the election, team members continued to discuss whether they should be satisfied with this, and ultimately decided to still hold on to the hope of not giving up on any county or city. On December 10, 2014, they launched the "Non-GMO Campus Lunch: A Christmas Gift for Children" [2] campaign, calling on netizens to invite the 10 county and city heads who had not signed the pledge, including New Taipei City, Yilan County and Yunlin County, through Facebook comments to jointly realize the vision of campus food safety.

That same day we immediately received the pledge from Yunlin County Magistrate Li Chin-yung, and afterward successively obtained positive responses from Yilan County Magistrate Lin Tsung-hsien, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu, Penghu County Magistrate Chen Kuang-fu, Chiayi County Magistrate Chang Hua-kuan and Lienchiang County Magistrate Liu Tseng-ying, adding six counties and cities at once, clearly showing that prioritizing non-GMO ingredients has become a consensus among all citizens, and that following international trends is the correct dietary and environmental education policy.

A Multi-Pronged Action Strategy Rolls Up a Wave of Campus Lunch Reversal

Unlike the pre-election advocacy action, which used a Facebook page as its sole media tool, after the election we opened a column on the "NewsMarket" website, continuously publishing relevant discussions on GMO crops and campus lunch issues. As of today there have been 20 articles, ranging from non-GMO knowledge, rumor debunking, news literacy, and analysis of foreign cases to the drafting of campus lunch action strategies, in the hope of becoming a database for public participation in the lunch action. At the same time, we used this to launch Taiwan's first "Top Ten Important GMO News" voting activity, in which "candidates pledge non-GMO campus lunches" was selected as the most closely watched event [3].

Because we do not belong to a single organization but instead launched the action as volunteers, media submissions became the best channel for the team to gain exposure for the issue, and the results have been somewhat effective. For example, on January 9 our submission "Wei Ming-ku, Do Not Forget the Non-GMO Campus Lunch Pledge" [4] pointed out that among Changhua County's top ten food safety actions, the non-GMO lunch policy was the only one missing. A few days later, Magistrate Wei publicly stated in the media that school lunches should use non-GMO ingredients [5]. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, who attracted much attention, had originally said in a media interview that he had no idea about non-GMO campus lunches [6]. We again used the article "Mayor Ko, Non-GMO Campus Lunches Are Exactly the Best Environmental Education" [7] to suggest actions the Taipei City Government should take, and not long afterward news emerged that Taipei's campus lunch budget would rise by 10 yuan and that parent groups were demanding the full use of non-GMO ingredients [8]. Clearly, after an election campaign in a new era, the voice of the people has become a force that cannot be ignored.

In addition to demanding that county and city heads fulfill their pledges, we also continued to pay attention to the government's relevant laws and regulations on GMO foods. For example, at the end of last year the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced three regulations including the "Matters to Be Complied With in the Labeling of Genetically Modified Food Raw Materials," among which the GMO labeling of bulk foods would be implemented in three stages from 2016 to full implementation in 2018. In response, we wrote two submissions, "GMO Food Labeling: Do Not Wait Another Three Years" [9] and "Labeling GMO Ingredients in Campus Lunches: When Will It Be Implemented?" [10], from the perspectives of existing laws and dietary safety, criticizing the competent authority for moving too slowly. As a result, under pressure from public opinion and legislators, the Ministry of Health and Welfare promised to study whether to implement it as early as June of this year. Immediately afterward, Taipei City stated that it would establish a food safety committee before the end of March this year, and in the already drafted "Taipei City Food Safety Self-Governance Ordinance" included genetically modified organisms in the labeling scope for bulk foods [11], once again showing that after Taiwan went through multiple food safety storms, the public's right to know has received considerable attention.

On the other hand, the special report "From Agricultural Safety to Food Safety: Ask the County and City Heads" [12] produced by NewsMarket was an even more important force that allowed this campus lunch action to roll up waves in various places. Among the eight county and city heads interviewed so far, seven pledged to implement the policy of removing GMO foods from campus lunches through strategies such as local agriculture, local production for local consumption, or increased funding. Only Taitung County Magistrate Huang Chien-ting clearly stated that due to financial considerations he would not romantically sign the pledge. Although we felt disappointed, we did not give up and still wrote the article "Plant Soybeans Widely to Add Nutrition to Campus Lunches" [13] to offer suggestions.

Local Action with the Spiritual Foundation of Environmental Education

Of course, the campus lunch reform action could not possibly be completed by us alone; the surging local actions across the country are the key to success. Just as we clearly listed in the article "Embodying Campus Environmental Education: Start with Non-GMO Lunches" [14], advocating for campus lunch action does not take solving the GMO problem as its sole goal, but rather hopes to embody the spirit of environmental education and become a practicable campus environmental action.

The currently flourishing food and farming education in Taiwan is exactly a very good opportunity. In just the first month of this year, not only has a "Food and Farming Education Legislation Forum" jointly planned by academia, NGOs, legislators and government departments already been held, but in addition there is the public hearing on the Food and Farming Education Act convened by Legislator Yao Wen-chih, the "Little Farmland, Little Farmer Plan" planned and promoted by the Taipei City Government, and the "Our Grain School" action initiated by the public with more than a hundred schools currently participating. All of these are the best choices of action plans to pair with non-GMO campus lunches.

For action to take root, sustained attention from local groups is even more necessary. Take the Hsinchu County and City campus lunch action team as an example. Before the election they systematically visited county and city heads and councilor candidates one by one, and after the election they more actively contacted competent authorities, schools at all levels and civil society groups, and planned to hold related lunch study and exchange activities after the Lunar New Year holiday, attempting to find the best action plan among the government, schools and parents. If every county and city could have local groups initiating action, the many years of difficulties facing campus lunches in Taiwan might no longer be an insurmountable high wall.

In just 65 short days, just as we had not expected before the election that so many people would respond, the degree of change in Taiwan's campus lunches has also exceeded imagination, showing that the public's desire for change has turned into concrete results. Regarding our own right to choose what we eat and the health of the next generation, we should all take action more actively; consumption will always be an important force for changing the world.

[1] November 30, 2014. "After Today, Campus Lunches Will Begin to Be Different." NewsMarket

[2] December 10, 2014. "Non-GMO Campus Lunch: A Christmas Gift for Children." Campus Lunch No-GMO Facebook.

[3] January 1, 2015. "2014 Taiwan Top Ten GMO News." NewsMarket.

[4] January 9, 2015. "Wei Ming-ku, Do Not Forget the Non-GMO Campus Lunch Pledge." Liberty Open Talk.

[5] January 13, 2015. "Changhua Nutrition Lunch to Use Non-GMO Ingredients." China Times Electronic News.

[6] January 18, 2015. "Taipei City: Raise the Nutrition Lunch Budget, Enact a Food Safety Self-Governance Ordinance." NewsMarket.

[7] January 13, 2015. "Mayor Ko, Non-GMO Campus Lunches Are Exactly the Best Environmental Education." Independent Review@CommonWealth.

[8] January 21, 2015. "Nutrition Lunch: Parents Say Use Non-GMO and Add Organic Vegetables." United Daily News.

[9] December 25, 2014. "GMO Food Labeling: Do Not Wait Another Three Years." Apple Instant News.

[10] January 1, 2015. "Labeling GMO Ingredients in Campus Lunches: When Will It Be Implemented?" Independent Review@CommonWealth.

[11] January 20, 2015. "Taipei City Sets a Precedent: Bulk and GMO Foods Must Label Place of Origin." Liberty Times.

[12] "From Agricultural Safety to Food Safety: Ask the County and City Heads." NewsMarket.

[13] February 2, 2015. "Plant Soybeans Widely to Add Nutrition to Campus Lunches." Merit Times.

[14] January 17, 2015. "Embodying Campus Environmental Education: Start with Non-GMO Lunches." Think Forum.