Hadong-Style Village Dining Halls During the Farming Season... Reconnecting Rural Communities

Hadong County in South Gyeongsang Province is creating a new model for rural policy by significantly expanding its 'Hadong-Style Support Project for Village Dining Halls During the Farming Season,' which goes beyond simply solving meal issues during busy times and aims to restore the spirit of community.

During the hectic farming season, the daily life of farmers stretches from dawn until sunset. As a result, meals are often pushed aside, and eating alone has become the norm. To change this all-too-familiar but not inevitable situation, Hadong County has introduced the solution of 'shared meals.'

This project is not merely meal assistance; it is a community restoration policy that connects people. It is focused on reviving the tradition of 'eating together,' which has weakened due to population decline, aging demographics, and the increase in single-person households in rural areas.

The starting point of this policy is the awareness, as one resident put it, that "who you eat with is more important than what you eat."

[Photo provided by Hadong County] Operation of village communal dining hall

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◆ Proven Results in the Field... "Community Returns to the Table"

The performance of the project in 2025 is also apparent in numbers. It was implemented in a total of 96 villages, with 2,755 residents participating. From April to November, meals were provided for a total of 3,252 days, amounting to approximately 79,510 servings. This means that nearly 80,000 shared meals took place during the farming season, going far beyond simple meal provision.

As communal dining halls have become part of daily life at the village level, relationships that had been severed have been reconnected, and the possibility of community recovery has been confirmed in the field.

◆ Lowering the Barriers to Participation and Expanding Support... "Closer, and More Thorough"

The project has evolved even further in 2026. The minimum participation requirement was relaxed from 15 people to 10, making it possible for smaller villages to join, and up to two dining halls per village are now permitted to improve accessibility.

The scale of support has also increased. The maximum support per village has risen from 5 million won to as much as 8 million won, and the ingredient cost per meal has been raised from 3,000 won to 4,000 won, enhancing meal quality. In addition, a new category of operational expenses has been introduced to cover the purchase of cooking utensils and tableware, laying the foundation for sustainable communal dining halls.

◆ 117 Villages and 712 Million Won Invested... "A Model for Rural Policy"

This year, the project targets a total of 117 villages, with about 712 million won allocated for implementation from March to December, aligning with the farming season. Notably, in addition to county funds, hometown love donations are being utilized, expanding the project into a participatory policy involving both local and external stakeholders.

The project is centered on regions with a high proportion of agriculture, such as Okjong, Yangbo, and Agyang, and allows for operation to be split into two periods per year based on crop types and farming schedules. Villages also have the autonomy to decide the operating period, the number of participants, and budget allocation, creating a 'resident-led' structure.

The core principle of this project is clear: meals must be eaten together at the village communal dining hall-not delivered as lunch boxes or outsourced. This is because the essence of the policy lies in restoring relationships, not simply in providing meals.

[Photo by Hadong County] Village community dining hall operation

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◆ "Change Begins with Meals"... Shaping the Future of Rural Communities

The Hadong-Style Village Dining Hall is achieving three simultaneous effects: maintaining agricultural productivity through nutrition, solving meal issues for elderly and single-person households, and restoring community. It has established itself as a comprehensive policy combining agriculture, welfare, and community.

As the project expands, its management system has also been strengthened. Hygiene and safety management have been made thorough, and subsidy spending is now divided between bank transfers and card payments to increase transparency. Strict standards are enforced, such as full recovery of funds in case of false applications.

Hadong County sees the biggest crisis in rural areas as the 'disconnection of relationships' and has sought solutions at the most basic level of life-the dining table.

Even today, in a village in Hadong County, a warm meal is being served. Around that table, people are reconnecting, and the future of rural communities continues quietly but unmistakably.

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