Tainan mayor Huang Wei-che recently posted a photo from a school lunch cooking competition on Facebook. The winning meal included three side dishes, one soup, and a main course at a cost of only NT$35.
The table is full of dishes including chicken, eggs, eggplants, mushrooms, and other ingredients. This is the 4th Tainan School Lunch Cooking Competition. Yongkang Elementary School won first place, and the cost of the meal is only NT$35.
Ms. Wu, Student, Yongkang Elementary School: “The ingredients are very fulfilling. I think this is acceptable if it's NT$35. ”
Wang Chiung-yen, Nutritionist, Yongkang Elementary School: “The nutrient content of these three dishes, soup, and the main course meets the Ministry of Education's nutritional standards of about 700 calories. ”
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che recently posted this photo on Facebook. Netizens questioned if the cost was really only NT$35. They believed that there was a big gap between the competition's finished product and the usual lunches served at school, which sparked discussion.
Citizen: “This is impossible. Because eggs are very expensive now. ”
Citizen: “Everything is so expensive now due to inflation. This is impossible. Any bento box is more than NT$100. ”
The Tainan Education Bureau explained that just by using a beautiful plate, this indeed looks better than the normal lunch plates used by students. The Education Bureau further emphasized that the lunch fee is NT$795 for elementary schools, NT$825 for junior high schools, and NT$855 for high schools. Government subsidy is NT$10 per person per meal, and NT$14 for rural areas. All schools have been approved for lunch subsidies, and the NT$35 cost is indeed true.
Cheng Hsin-hui, Director-general, Bureau of Education, Tainan City Government: “The government can guarantee about NT$62 for a meal for all our rural schools. Other schools can receive NT$50 for a meal. Parents will not pay more than NT$38 for an elementary school meal. Other expenses are subsidized by the government. ”
In addition, some people questioned the lack of local ingredients. Tainan Education Bureau emphasized that according to its regulations, each school must use at least 15 percent of local ingredients. At present, the proportion of locally sourced ingredients has reached 25 percent across the city. In the future, it will discuss with the Agriculture Bureau to gradually increase the ratio.
滿滿的菜色放滿桌上，不只有主食雞肉，甚至還有蛋、茄子和香菇等食材。這是台南第4屆學校午餐廚藝競賽，由永康國小拿到的得獎作品，但收費只需要35元。
永康國小學生吳同學表示：「因為裡面的材料都很豐富，如果這樣35元，我覺得可以接受。」
永康國小營養師王瓊嫣指出：「因為營養成分的部分，我們這3菜1湯，加1個主食，是符合我們教育部的營養基準，大概700多卡。」
不過黃偉哲近期把這張照片貼上臉書，也被網友質疑這樣才35元，認為比賽成品和學校平常的營養午餐內容落差大，引發討論。
民眾表示：「現在都是蛋很貴狀況下，不太可能。」
也有民眾表示：「現在每樣通膨那麼貴 隨便都不可能，隨便一個便當都100多塊。」
台南市教育局解釋，只是加上了擺盤，確實會比學生午餐的餐盤好看，教育局進一步強調，營養午餐費用國小收795元、國中825元、高中855元，更要求學校午餐選用3章1Q可溯源食材，且每人每餐補助金額10元，偏鄉14元，目前全數學校都通過申請食材補助費，35元一餐的確是真的。
台南市教育局長鄭新輝表示：「我們所有偏鄉的學校，一餐大概可以政府保證是62塊，其他的部分 一餐大概可以達到50塊，家長繳的部分，國小最高不會超過38塊每一餐，其他經費的部分都是政府來給予補助。」
另外，也有民代質疑在地食材的比例過低，教育局強調，依市府規定各校須達15％，目前全市午餐的在地食材比例已達25％，未來也會再跟農業局討論，逐漸拉高比例。