Seodaemun-gu Provides Stable Support of Eco-Friendly Rice for Meals in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools

Signed Direct Trade Supply Agreements with Producer Groups in 4 Locations: Wanju, Andong, Haenam, and Yecheon

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) recently signed a ‘Direct Supply Agreement for Eco-friendly Rice for School Meals’ with four producer organizations: Gosan Agricultural Cooperative in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk; Nanumgwa Seongim Agricultural Corporation in Andong-si, Gyeongbuk; Ttangkkeut Hwangto Eco-friendly Agricultural Corporation in Haenam-gun, Jeonnam; and Yeonjabang-a Eco-friendly Rice Agricultural Corporation in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk.

The agreement includes ▲ supply to 34 elementary, middle, and high schools within Seodaemun-gu ▲ stable supply of eco-friendly rice certified pesticide-free for two years ▲ supply of rice milled within one week at least once a week ▲ operation of urban-rural exchange experiences at eco-friendly rice production sites ▲ cooperation in providing samples for monthly safety inspections ▲ cooperation in on-site monitoring by the Safe Food Ingredient Keeper Group ▲ improvement of school complaints.

The agreement period is two years, from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2022.

At the supply agreement ceremony held on the 14th of this month at the Seodaemun-gu Office Planning Situation Room, Mayor Moon Seok-jin asked the representatives of the producer organizations, “Please ensure a stable supply of nutritious and delicious eco-friendly rice for the next two years.”

The representatives of the producer organizations responded, “We will produce and supply eco-friendly rice with a sense of mission and hope to develop further into a sustainable urban-rural win-win relationship with Seodaemun-gu.”

The producer organizations entrusted the rice delivery work to each school to ‘Social Cooperative Happiness Plus,’ affiliated with the Seodaemun-gu Self-Support Center. Regarding this, the representatives said, “Direct urban-rural trade can also lead to job creation in social enterprises, which makes it even more rewarding.”

Lee Jeong-hee, the selection committee chairperson, stated, “To ensure fairness, objectivity, and transparency in selecting new producer organizations, we formed a public-private governance selection committee of 15 members. Among eight producer organizations that passed the first document screening, second on-site inspection, and third tasting evaluation, we selected the top four based on total scores.”

Starting from the 1st of next month, the four producer organizations will divide Seodaemun-gu’s elementary, middle, and high schools into four zones and supply rice on a rotating monthly basis, taking responsibility for supplying safe and nutritious eco-friendly rice from the production site to the school ingredient storage rooms.

In 2019, the amount of eco-friendly rice used for school meals was 218,286 kg, the number of target students was 19,989, and the purchase cost was about 650 million KRW.

Since starting eco-friendly meals in 2009, Seodaemun-gu has continuously expanded food security policies, achieving results such as establishing free eco-friendly meals for elementary, middle, and high schools, implementing public meals in daycare centers, and formulating a Food Plan (Comprehensive Food Plan).

Among Seoul’s autonomous districts, Seodaemun-gu was the first to enact the Basic Food Ordinance, focusing on building a food plan ecosystem foundation through resident recruitment for the Food Committee, revitalization of traditional fermentation schools, and operation of urban farmer schools.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.