Seodaemun-gu, Operation of Safe Food Ingredient Guardians in 2020

Published 13 Jan.2020 15:28(KST)

Ensuring Safety and Enhancing Trust in School Meal Ingredients

Last year, the Ansimsikjaeryo Jikimidan of Seodaemun-gu monitored school meal ingredient suppliers.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) operates the 2020 Safe Food Ingredient Guardians, a group of parents participating to ensure the safety of school meal ingredients and to enhance the reliability of eco-friendly school meals and public meals supporting urban-rural cooperation.

The Guardians consist of 70 parents from local daycare centers and elementary, middle, and high schools, and will be active from mid-next month until the end of this year.

They form teams of six and visit about 10 kimchi and rice suppliers and delivery companies nationwide, including Andong, Asan, Paju, and Goyang, conducting monitoring based on checklists. Each company receives official documents with the Guardians' opinions and improvement requests and responds with the results of their actions.

Additionally, the Guardians visit the production sites of school meal ingredients, the Jeonju Food Integrated Support Center, and the Seodaemun-gu Public Meal Center, and also participate in local food experiences with their children.

Furthermore, they receive job and competency training covering topics such as ▲understanding school meals and public meals ▲food hygiene and safety ▲food ethics ▲making gochujang and pickled vegetables using safe ingredients.

Those wishing to participate can download the application form from the Seodaemun-gu website's notice section, fill it out, and submit it via email (msnb@sdm.go.kr) by 6 p.m. on the 22nd of this month.

The appointment ceremony is scheduled to be held on February 12 at 10:30 a.m. in the large conference room on the 3rd floor of Seodaemun-gu Office.

This year marks the sixth year of operating the Safe Food Ingredient Guardians in Seodaemun-gu. Parents who participated last year responded positively, saying, “It increased our understanding of eco-friendly and safe food,” and “It was good to carefully check the production, processing, and distribution sites of the ingredients our children eat at school,” showing an overall satisfaction rate of 91% with the operation.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, stated, “We expect that through the Safe Food Ingredient Guardians, who will act with pride and solidarity this year as well, school meals will become safer and more trustworthy.”