Differences Between School Lunches in Taiwan and Japan: Sharing the Experience of a School Meal Center in Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Setting Sail for Japan: Exchange on Food and Agriculture Education
In response to social issues such as endless food safety scandals, overweight schoolchildren, an excessively high proportion of eating out, insufficient intake of vegetables and fruit, and a rising trend of chronic diseases among the people, the Education Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government began in 2013 to promote a 3-year "Diet Education Medium-Term Plan," determined to align with the global food movement, with the goal of "Safety, Health, Eating in Kaohsiung," and established five major implementation guidelines including setting up a food and agriculture education promotion organization, integrating environmental education and strengthening local ingredients, and set up a Food and Agriculture Education Information Network to build a platform for information sharing.
Last May, the Kaohsiung City Education Bureau secured reward subsidy from the Executive Yuan's "104-Year Reward Program for Local Governments to Strengthen Food Safety Management Pilot Program," and with the top-notch plan "Let Children Eat Real, Safe Food," stood out from 18 proposals from counties and cities nationwide, receiving the "Campus Food Safety Task Group - Outstanding Award" honor and a reward subsidy of 8 million yuan.
Because of this, in late October last year, led by Deputy Director-General Wang Chin-Yen of the Education Bureau, a group of more than 20 members including the Physical Education and Health Division of Kaohsiung City and principals of senior high, junior high and elementary schools and nutritionists went to Chiba Prefecture and Hachioji City in Japan for a six-day food and agriculture education exchange visit And although Taiwan's campuses also have a nutritionist system, the urban-rural gap remains a major problem. In Kaohsiung City, a school must have more than 40 classes to be allocated a nutritionist. For rural-type schools like those in Meinong, they have to rely on the only one nutritionist in the Qishan District making round visits, and school lunch procurement can only be handled concurrently by teachers. Compared with the situation in Japan, where the state gives full support, Kaohsiung City principals all lament: "Taiwan's school lunch system needs a major reform!" Although the system and various conditions are still not complete, the food and agriculture education of schools in the Meinong area still relies on the independent efforts of schools and communities with impressive results, but it mainly focuses on farming experience and cannot serve as a supply of lunch ingredients. In terms of future direction, regarding raising the proportion of local ingredients in lunch, the chairman of the Meinong Township Education Association and principal of Meinong Elementary School, Yang Jui-Hsia, stated: "The nine elementary schools and three junior high schools in Meinong have previously discussed together a plan for joint procurement of local ingredients. All schools have expressed a high degree of willingness. We look forward to the agricultural authorities giving strong assistance, so that the ideal practice of 'Eating in Kaohsiung: From Production Area to Dining Table' can start from Meinong."
The Challenge of Effort for Meinong Schools: Joint Procurement of Local Ingredients