Busan Education Office Announces Basic Meal Guidelines...Strengthening Eco-Friendly Ingredients and Meal Safety

Promoting Four Key Tasks, Including Expanding Allergy-Friendly Menus and Improving Kitchen Ventilation

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 5th that it will expand support for eco-friendly and high-quality food ingredients and improve meal service facilities in order to enhance the quality of meals at kindergartens and schools and to establish a safe meal service environment.

On this day, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education unveiled the "Basic Guidelines for School and Kindergarten Meals for the 2026 Academic Year" and presented four key tasks: strengthening the operation and support of healthy meals; establishing a safe meal service environment; reinforcing sustainable nutrition and dietary education; and strengthening hands-on and on-site support through the operation of a Nutrition Education Experience Center. The basic guidelines were prepared by reflecting the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and opinions from schools in the field.

First, to ensure healthy meal service operations, the office will provide financial support for the purchase of eco-friendly and high-quality food ingredients and will subsidize lunch costs for small foreign schools. It will also develop and distribute excellent meal recipes, expand the number of schools that provide alternative menus for students with food allergies, and increase the operation of "Vegetable and Fruit Day in School Meals" to help students develop healthy eating habits.

To establish a safe meal service environment, the office will continue to promote the modernization of school kitchens and the installation of dietary education centers. In particular, it plans to improve the working environment of cooking staff by expanding support for upgrading ventilation systems in cooking areas and installing automated and electric meal service equipment, and to strengthen the safety of food ingredients through joint inspections of food suppliers in cooperation with relevant agencies.

In addition, the office will support stable meal service operations by implementing a substitute workforce hub system and providing on-site customized consulting. It also plans to assign traveling nutrition teachers to small private kindergartens to carry out nutrition and hygiene management, nutrition and dietary education for young children, and nutrition counseling for parents.

To reinforce sustainable nutrition and dietary education, schools will operate dietary education rooms and receive support for nutrition education in kindergartens and schools through the lending of class kits and similar materials. The Nutrition Education Experience Center of the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will provide student experience programs and the "Visiting Nutrition Experience Class for Schools," each for 100 schools, and will also expand programs such as Nutrition Experience Days, nutrition camps, and food allergy camps for teachers, parents, and local residents.

Furthermore, the office will strengthen the work capabilities related to meal services by providing job training for school meal personnel, and will enhance practical skills by concurrently offering on-site adaptation training for newly hired cooking staff.

To support the establishment of meal plans in schools and the substantive operation of school meals, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will hold a "Briefing Session on Basic Meal Guidelines" over two days, on the 5th and 6th, for about 750 nutrition teachers and dietitians from kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

Busan Superintendent of Education Kim Seok-jun said, "Based on these basic meal guidelines, we will communicate actively with the educational field and do our utmost to provide safe and high-quality school meals," adding, "I hope these basic guidelines will be of practical help to the stable operation of school meals in the field."