Gumi City Establishes Food Win-Win Cycle System ... Benefits Both Farmers and Citizens

44 Billion KRW Invested, Eco-Friendly School Meals... Supply of Agricultural Products from Gumi

Establishment of Agricultural Product Distribution Facilities, Completing the Local Food Chain Link

Gumi City in Gyeongbuk is promoting a food plan project to establish a distribution structure where farmers can sell their agricultural products at fair prices and to encourage the consumption of locally produced agricultural products within the region.

By simplifying the distribution structure to reduce distribution costs, the city aims to enable farmers to earn higher incomes and consumers to purchase high-quality local agricultural products at lower prices.

The Local Food Direct Store Geumosan Branch, which opened in April last year, confirmed the potential success of local food by attracting 130,000 customers over eight months who purchased more than 2.3 billion KRW worth of agricultural products produced by local farms.

This year, Gumi City plans to secure stable sales channels for local farms through improvements in the distribution structure, support for school meals, establishment of a food plan foundation, marketing of local agricultural specialties, and support for horticultural and special crop production. The city will also create an environment where citizens can purchase high-quality local agricultural specialties at affordable prices.

▲ Support for Eco-friendly School Meals

To create a city good for raising children and an equitable educational environment, the city will invest 44 billion KRW (including the education office budget) in school meals this year. Following free meals for elementary, middle, and high schools in 2021, free meals have been extended to kindergartens in 2022. This year, 34.8 billion KRW for free meal costs and 9.2 billion KRW for purchasing eco-friendly ingredients will be provided to kindergartens and schools to offer safe food to students and reduce the childcare burden on parents. Additionally, contracts have been signed with 140 local farms to supply more than 4 billion KRW worth of safe Gumi-produced agricultural products annually to students.

▲ Construction of Agricultural Product Distribution Facilities and Full-scale Promotion of the Rural New Vitality Plus Project

The construction of an Agricultural Product Distribution Center (APC) to establish a local consumption system for regionally produced food is entering its main phase. With a budget of 6 billion KRW this year, the facility is planned to be completed by the end of the year in Irae-ri, Goa-eup. Once completed, the APC will complete the local food chain of production-distribution-consumption within the region, allowing producers to sell at fair prices and consumers to purchase agricultural products at affordable prices.

Furthermore, 5 billion KRW will be invested in the Rural New Vitality Plus Project to nurture future core personnel who will lead the value of urban-rural coexistence and to revitalize rural communities.

Following the approval of Gumi City's basic plan for the Rural New Vitality Plus Project by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in December last year, momentum has been gained in implementing projects such as establishing a value-sharing food hub as a base facility, fostering urban-rural coexistence organizations, and spreading the value of Gumi's food.

▲ Support for Increasing Farmers' Income and Improving Farming Environment

To secure stable sales channels for agricultural product producers, 900 million KRW will be allocated for supporting standardized shipment (packaging materials) of agricultural products, and 350 million KRW for promotion and marketing to enhance the brand value of Gumi agricultural products. Additionally, 730 million KRW will be provided for facility modernization and smart farm-related support, and 580 million KRW for agricultural materials support to increase production and improve the farming environment.

Comprehensive Plan for New Vitality.

Mayor Kim Jang-ho said, “We will stabilize the food plan by linking the processes of production, distribution, and consumption of local food into a virtuous cycle to provide safe food to citizens and greater income to producers, and support the excellence of Gumi's agricultural products to be recognized externally.”