Seocho-gu, Why Did They Deliver Home-Cooked Meals to Lonely Single-Person Households at Year-End?

Seocho 1-Person Household Support Center Delivers Warm Mom's Meal Side Dish Sets to 400 Local Single-Person Households, Easing COVID-19 Fatigue and Loneliness... Creating a 'Solo Dining-Friendly Seocho District' with 'Honsikdang' Support

Welfare Planner Delivering Food

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Recently, many people have felt that the year-end does not feel like the usual year-end due to COVID-19. With the strengthening of social distancing and the prolonged stay-at-home lifestyle of solo dwellers, the loneliness felt during the year-end has grown more than ever.

In this lonely year-end of 2020, the Seocho 1-Person Household Support Center has taken on the ‘Honbap Project’ to provide warm home-cooked meals for the increasingly isolated single-person households.

The Seocho 1-Person Household Support Center is a welfare institution established by Seocho-gu, the first local government in the country, to provide safety, care, and convenience services for single-person households.

The center plans to deliver side dish sets to a total of 400 middle-aged and young single-person households living in goshiwons: on the 18th, a set of four side dishes (including bulgogi and rolled omelet); on the 24th, a special side dish set and Christmas cookies; and on the 30th, rice cake soup and jeon (Korean pancakes). This is to convey the warmth of home-cooked meals to single-person households who tend to rely on instant foods like cup noodles, helping them spend the particularly cold year-end more warmly.

For middle-aged and older single-person households living in goshiwons, welfare planners deliver the meals directly, while young single-person households can receive them at designated restaurants through online applications.

There is a good reason why the district is taking care of meals for single-person households. Seocho-gu has 173,183 households in total, of which 58,245 households, or 33.6%, are single-person households. This means that single-person households account for one-third of all households. However, many of these single-person households are not able to have their meals on time. In fact, in the ‘Seocho Middle-aged and Older Single-person Household Survey’ conducted last month, respondents cited health issues and irregular eating habits as their biggest concerns.

Especially in goshiwons, where many residents have vulnerable living conditions and health, welfare planners can visit directly to deliver food and check on their well-being. On the 18th, Mr. Lim (57), living in a goshiwon in Banpo 1-dong, was surprised by an unexpected gift hanging on his door handle after going out and called the 1-Person Household Support Center. He expressed his gratitude, saying he felt warmth and reassurance upon receiving the still-warm side dish package.

Also, to help with the biggest concern of single-person households, ‘meal solutions,’ the district selected about 70 restaurants with environments suitable for solo dining as ‘Honsikdang’ (solo dining restaurants) last November and began full support.

In January next year, they plan to distribute single-person tableware sets (including a single-person tray and six types of side dish bowls), hygienic spoon packaging paper, and eco-friendly tray paper. They are discovering restaurants such as single-person samgyeopsal (pork belly) restaurants, home-style meal restaurants, and single-seat restaurants where one can dine comfortably alone, and promoting them through leaflets and videos.

Meanwhile, support for single-person households is also provided through the YouTube channel ‘Seocho Single Talk.’ They upload simple solo meal recipe videos once a week, run a ‘Na Honbap’ (Eating Alone) corner that offers a glimpse into the lives of single-person households, and feature award-winning videos from the ‘Wise Single Life Video Contest,’ fostering online communication.

Jo Eun-hee, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “What single-person households need during this colder and lonelier year-end than ever is care and meal support. We will approach them with practical and continuous policies so that single-person households can soothe their ‘emotional hunger.’”

Set of 4 Side Dishes

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