Chungnam Expands Supply of Local Seafood in School Meals... Targets 15% Supply Rate

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is expanding the supply of local seafood to school meals.

The province announced on the 31st that starting next month, it will expand the school meal centers and local seafood joint purchasing projects in 15 cities and counties.

Last year, as a pilot project, the province jointly purchased and supplied eight local products including whiteleg shrimp, abalone, and blue crab for school meals.

As a result of the pilot project, the supply rate of local seafood increased from the initial 1% range to the 6% range last year.

This year, the province plans to increase the number of joint purchase items to 15 and raise the supply ratio of local seafood to 15%. Newly included joint purchase items will include flatfish, cod, and webfoot octopus.

The province completed the introduction of free meals in elementary, middle, and high schools within the region in 2019. It also supports the free meal budget together with cities, counties, and the Chungnam Office of Education. The total free meal budget supported last year was estimated at 163.5 billion KRW.

A provincial official said, "The local seafood joint purchasing project is meaningful in that it supplies excellent ingredients at reasonable prices," adding, "In particular, by lowering distribution costs through joint purchasing, we expect to increase the supply rate of locally produced seafood."

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