High-Quality Agricultural and Fishery Products from Yunlin May Be Included in Taipei's School Lunch Menus

(CNA Reporter Tsai Chih-ming, Yunlin County, 18th) Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an is promoting a policy of free school lunches for elementary and junior high schools. To ensure students eat healthily and safely, he led a team today to inspect the production processes of special agricultural and fishery products in Yunlin County. High-quality products from Yunlin are expected to appear on the school lunch tables of Taipei City. Chiang Wan-an, along with Taipei City Department of Education Commissioner Tang Chih-min and Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation General Manager Wu Fang-ming, visited Yunlin today to inspect the production processes of peanuts, eels, and Taiwan tilapia. The first stop was the farmers' direct sales station at the Huwei Township Farmers' Association, where, accompanied by Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan and KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun, they experienced sorting peanuts and tasted zongzi (rice dumplings). At noon, they went to Kouhu to understand the eel situation and visited the Taiwan Tilapia Ecological and Creative Park. In a media interview, Chiang Wan-an stated that he came to Yunlin not only to see the production process of agricultural and fishery products like Taiwan tilapia but also to thank the hardworking farmers for providing high-quality specialty products to the citizens of Taipei. Chiang pointed out that Taipei City provides free school lunches for elementary and junior high schools, and it's important that children not only eat well but also eat safely and healthily. To ensure the quality and safety of all ingredients, he came to Yunlin for a field inspection. Chang Li-shan stated that if Taipei's school lunches use Yunlin's agricultural and fishery products, the quality is absolutely guaranteed, allowing students to eat with peace of mind and healthily. She cited Yunlin's coastal aquaculture industry as an example, which has actively introduced smart and technological management in recent years, establishing a comprehensive monitoring mechanism from pond water quality and feed management to drug testing, demonstrating the achievement of Yunlin's aquaculture industry in balancing production efficiency and food safety. The Yunlin County Agriculture Department pointed out that they have already exchanged views with the Taipei City Government today on issues such as campus food safety, cooperation in the supply and marketing of agricultural and fishery products, and food and agriculture education, working together to promote the inclusion of high-quality domestic agricultural and fishery products on school lunch tables. Furthermore, the Taipei City Government has signed an MOU with the Taipei Fish Marketing Corporation. In the future, they will work with Yunlin's aquaculture farmers to establish a stable supply mechanism, strengthen food safety and drug testing management, and include more high-quality local fishery products in Taipei's school lunch menus, providing students with more diverse and healthy sources of protein. (Editor: Chang Ya-ching) 1150518