Incheon Increases Meal Cost for Food-Insecure Children to 7,000 Won... Same as Seoul and Gyeonggi

Improve School Meal Card Design and Functionality to Alleviate Stigma

Improved Incheon Child Meal Card (left) and Previous Card (right) [Provided by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City will raise the meal allowance for children at risk of food insecurity by 1,500 KRW starting in September, setting the amount at 7,000 KRW per meal (6,500 KRW for group meals).

The city announced on the 31st that although the meal allowance was increased by 500 KRW each in July last year and January this year, this time it was raised by 1,500 KRW at once?three times the previous increase?considering the level of dining-out costs and inflation.

This amount is higher than the 6,000 KRW recommended by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2021 and is the same as the amounts in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

The city will also improve the design and functionality of the meal cards.

In response to criticism that the existing meal cards displayed the Incheon City logo and other marks, exposing the identity of children at risk of food insecurity and causing stigmatization, the new cards will have a design similar to regular credit cards. Additionally, an IC chip will be embedded so that the cards can be used with all universal terminals.

The existing cards displayed the name of the meal card operator (Purmee) and the Incheon City logo, giving them the appearance of welfare cards.

Furthermore, the city plans to continuously expand the number of affiliated stores for child meal services through bulk registration of franchise stores.

Unlike the previous method where each district individually registered affiliated stores, the city intends to selectively designate appropriate stores that can provide actual meals to children, thereby accelerating the expansion process.

Currently, starting with the registration of franchise stores such as Bonjuk and Bondosirak, the bulk registration of Bongus Bapburger franchise stores in the Incheon area has been completed, and Purmee Korea, the operator of the child meal card, is also strengthening promotions to expand affiliated stores.

An Incheon City official stated, "With the increase in meal allowance and improvements in card design, we expect that about 12,000 children receiving meals will be able to have balanced meals without psychological inhibition," adding, "We will continue to put more effort into expanding affiliated stores so that children can experience diverse food cultures."

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