Nowon-gu Expands Support for Eco-Friendly Meals in Elementary and Middle Schools

Starting March this year, support for the price difference in purchasing eco-friendly rice will be provided to all elementary and middle schools in the region... A budget of 352 million KRW allocated, supporting 30,938 students across 69 schools... Annual excellent ingredient evaluation contests and safe food classrooms operated to improve the quality of eco-friendly meals and ensure student health rights

Experience Janggarigi

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is expanding its support for eco-friendly school meals to all elementary and middle schools in the district to help students grow healthily.

Starting from March this year, the district will support the price difference for purchasing eco-friendly rice used in school meals for all elementary and middle schools.

Until last year, the district only supported schools participating in the joint purchase of eco-friendly rice, but from this year, the support will be expanded to all 69 elementary and middle schools.

Currently, Nowon-gu has the largest number of elementary schools (42 schools) and middle schools (27 schools) among Seoul’s autonomous districts.

The total project cost of about 352 million KRW will be fully funded by the district. The students benefiting from this support are 25,422 in 42 elementary schools and 12,516 in 27 middle schools, totaling 37,938 students.

The district expects that this will improve the safety and quality of school meals.

Eco-friendly rice and kimchi used in meals will be purchased jointly. Suppliers will be selected through a product evaluation considering safety and hygiene. This year, the district plans to recruit participating companies from April 14, conduct a first document review, a second on-site inspection, and a final product evaluation, with the final selection scheduled for June.

The selected suppliers will undergo thorough post-management through delivery status checks and safety inspections of ingredients, including tests for residual pesticides, heavy metals, and food poisoning bacteria.

Additionally, students will visit the production sites of ingredients for experiential learning to increase their understanding and interest in eco-friendly agriculture.

The district is also implementing the ‘Our School Jangdokdae’ project to promote the excellence of traditional foods. For elementary and middle school students in the area, the project offers experiences such as making jang (fermented sauces) and gochujang (red chili paste), along with education on GMO (genetically modified organisms) to instill proper values about healthy food.

Furthermore, efforts are being made to improve the quality of eco-friendly meals and secure students’ health rights by operating courses such as ‘Food Education Instructor Training’ for parents and ‘Safe Food Classroom’ for elementary and middle school students.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “Improving the quality of school meals is very important for the health and growth of students,” adding, “We will spare no support to provide safer and more nutritious meals.”