Tainan Schools Welcome New Term With Lunches Named for Good Fortune

Tainan schools are opening the new academic year with lunches designed to deliver both nutrition and good wishes. At Yongkang Elementary School, dishes carry auspicious meanings for students starting a new term.

The main dish, scallion-oil chicken, represents cleverness and ability. Mixed vegetables with peanuts symbolize good things happening. Bell peppers with bamboo shoots stand for smooth academic progress, while celery and daikon soup conveys hopes that students will study diligently and enjoy good fortune. A large apple completes the meal with a wish for safety and peace.

From the 2026 academic year, Tainan will fully subsidize primary and junior high school lunches. Nutritionists design daily menus, and the city plans to increase fruit and dairy servings to eight portions of fruit and six portions of dairy each month. Schools will also gradually raise their use of locally grown produce.

Dongyuan Junior High School, which uses a central kitchen, prepared braised chicken leg, tuna with bean sprouts, winter melon and pork rib soup, followed by low-fat yogurt for extra calcium. Houjia Junior High School, supplied by Jiacheng Food Factory, served chicken wings to symbolize students spreading their wings, with vegetable noodles and white radish bone soup.

Mayor Huang Wei-che said self-operated and central-kitchen meal services cover 94.5% of Tainan students, the highest proportion among Taiwan’s six special municipalities. Education officials said they will continue menu reviews, chef training, procurement guidance and three-level food-safety inspections. Schools may also develop their own lunch features through their meal committees.