Mayor Chu enjoys the “organic” school lunch with students
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu visited Yongping Elementary School to inspect on the supply of school lunches. He said the city government since last year has been pushing for the use of organic vegetables in school lunches. To date, 50 schools have complied and 100 more will follow in next semester, allowing more and more children to enjoy the tasty organic vegetables during lunch time.
Mayor Chu believed that by supplying organic vegetables in school lunches, children can understand that organic vegetables are good to their health as well as the global environment.
In his remark, the number of organic farmers, with the help of promotion by government, has increased by 33 since last year. Stressing that the value of an agricultural product shall not be simply judged by its size and appearance, Chu said organic vegetable, despite its less attracting appearance, is healthier and can help curtail the uses of agricultural pesticides.
Before lunch time, Mayor Chu held a prize quiz for students, and many of them answering the question correctly were awarded with a set of vegetable growing kit. Mayor Chu and students then had their lunch time together, enjoying the delicious and healthy organic vegetables.
According to Agriculture Department, the use of organic vegetables in school lunches was first carried out by 50 schools during this March and 100 more schools are expected to follow suit in September. In addition to supplying organic vegetables, many schools also host seminars on organic products, allowing students to know the importance and benefit of organic vegetables to the global environment.
New Taipei City is also actively cooperating with many other organic vegetable producing counties and cities, including Taoyuan County, Tainan City, and Kaohsiung City, to supply schools with enough organic vegetables through contract farming.
Contract farming, as Agriculture Department explained, is a new form of framing contracted between farmers and consumers. The policy of using organic vegetables in school lunches will not only enhances students’ healthy eating but also benefits many farmers by promoting the development of organic agriculture.