Free School Lunch Fruit in Taipei? Three Blueberries for Each Child Draws Sharp Rebuke of Chiang Wan-an

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an promised in early August that the tender for school lunches would be completed by Aug. 21. That deadline has now passed, drawing criticism over the quality of meals served during the first week of the school year.

Political worker Chou Hsuan shared screenshots of a parent’s post on Facebook. The parent said children from a family in Taipei’s Wenshan District, including both a middle school student and an elementary school student, complained about their lunches.

The middle school student reportedly described the meals as very unappetizing and said there was no fruit at all. On one day, the only drink was a bottle of soy milk. The elementary school student said the fruit portions included a small mandarin, a small apple and a small banana that had turned black from the peel inward.

The parent said the situation became even more extreme the following day, when each student reportedly received only three blueberries. The parent criticized Chiang, writing that even self-funded meals had not been this unreasonable and asking whether only the mayor’s family should benefit while other children suffered.

Chou summarized the complaint with a taunt: free fruit for elementary pupils in Wenshan District had become three blueberries each, as if the children were Pikmin.

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Even when we paid out of pocket, it was never this outrageous. Is Chiang Wan-an the only one whose family can benefit, while everyone else’s children have to suffer?