Anyang-Gunpo-Uiwang-Gwacheon Joint School Meal Support Center Holds Forum

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Yu Je-seong] The Anyang-Gunpo-Uiwang-Gwacheon Joint School Meal Support Center (Chairman Choi Dae-ho, Anyang Mayor) held a forum on the theme of 'Climate School Meals Story: Health, Environment, and Consideration' on the 23rd at the Anyang City Food Comprehensive Support Center Education Room on the 3rd floor of the Agricultural and Fisheries Wholesale Market Management Building in Pyeongchon-dong, Dongan-gu.

The forum was organized to share achievements and cases of school meals and to explore sustainable school meal policy directions through the expansion of eco-friendly meals, low-carbon eating habits, and food waste donations.

The joint school meal support center, which opened as the first of its kind nationally in May 2013, operates with a budget of 4.1 billion won this year and contributes to improving the quality of school meals in the region and establishing a safe food supply system.

The forum was attended by approximately 30 participants including parents, nutrition teachers, producers, food culture instructors, and food waste donation-related personnel, and was moderated by author Jung Eun-jung, author of 'The Great Korean Fried Chicken Exhibition.'

The event was structured as a time to listen to various on-site voices centered around the key values of climate school meals: 'health, environment, and consideration.'

In the health sector, discussions were held about the establishment and history of the center for realizing eco-friendly school meals.

Min Baek-cho, a nutrition teacher, said, "When parents come for monitoring, they are very surprised that such high-quality ingredients are used in school meals," adding, "It is rewarding and gives me pride to be able to use healthy and safe food in school meals," sharing vivid impressions felt in the field.

The city invests a total of 1.455 billion won from municipal government budget not only for eco-friendly agricultural and livestock products but also for eco-friendly quality processed foods in school meals, and continues stable business operations by freezing budgets even in an environment where securing tax revenue is difficult.

Additionally, since entering into a supply agreement for pesticide-free rice with production sites in Gapyeong-gun and Yangpyeong-gun in 2012, the city has maintained a stable cooperative relationship with production sites to date.

In the environmental sector, cases of low-carbon ingredient supply and sustainable food culture education support projects were shared.

In the consideration sector, cases of food-sharing culture expansion through school meal food waste donations were also discussed.

In addition, various stakeholders for creating healthy meals participated in the forum, including the executive director of the Excellence Food Producer Cooperative, a nutrition teacher at Pyeongchon Elementary School, a food culture instructor at the joint school meal support center, a nutrition teacher at Bakdal Middle School, and a social worker at Anyang City Unyok Comprehensive Social Welfare Center.

Anyang City's excellence in eco-friendly free school meals is also recognized internationally. Japanese school meal experts and Nagasaki Prefecture council members have visited three times from last year to this year to benchmark Anyang City's eco-friendly free school meal system.

Lee Eun-hee, the center director, introduced, "The center's ingredient quality standards aim for 'five non-GMO' principles: pesticide-free rice, antibiotic-free livestock products, radiation-free seafood, non-GMO, and the exclusion of chemically synthesized additives."

Anyang Mayor Choi Dae-ho emphasized, "The Anyang-Gunpo-Uiwang-Gwacheon Joint School Meal Support Center is developing into a cooperative governance model that applies the nation's highest school meal quality standards, beyond the nation's first cooperation case," adding, "To ensure that our children, during their growth period, can eat delicious and safe meals every day at school, we will maintain eco-friendly meals with sincerity and responsibility."