Gwangju Office of Education Decides Prices for Supplying Eco-Friendly Ingredients for School Meals This Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education announced the suppliers and prices of eco-friendly rice, kimchi, and red pepper powder to be supplied for school meals in the 2021 academic year.

The Office of Education stated on the 28th that this decision was made after holding a deliberation of the ‘Eco-friendly Excellent Food Ingredient Supply Partner Selection Committee’ the day before.

The supply price for 20kg of eco-friendly pesticide-free rice produced in Gwangju was set at 62,000 KRW, a 10.71% increase compared to the previous year. The price of 1kg of eco-friendly red pepper powder was set at 43,000 KRW, and the price of 1kg of Pogikimchi was set at 4,300 KRW. Prices for 13 types of kimchi were determined by investigating and reflecting factors such as the policy to expand eco-friendly food ingredients, producer price index, supplier desired prices, and market prices.

The Office of Education has been providing excellent eco-friendly food ingredients for school meals to support the physical and mental development of growing students. In particular, all eco-friendly rice produced by farms in the Gwangju area is used for school meals, greatly contributing to increasing local farmers’ income and the development of eco-friendly agriculture.

Additionally, to promote GMO (genetically modified organism)-free eco-friendly free meals, the Office of Education has supported non-GMO food costs separately by allocating an additional 100 KRW per meal since last year, prioritizing this over other city and provincial offices of education, in addition to supporting eco-friendly food ingredient costs.

An official from the Office of Education said, “We will continue to make efforts to provide safe and reliable eco-friendly and GMO-free food ingredients for healthy meals for students,” and added, “Purchasing eco-friendly food ingredients produced in the Gwangju area for school meals is expected to contribute to the development of eco-friendly agriculture in our region.”