Worried about spoiled milk? Tainan school installs vending machine for students to collect it anytime

A Tainan elementary school has found a simple way to keep free school milk from going to waste: students collect it from a vending machine when they are ready to drink it.

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It’s really great, thank you, Tainan’s mayor!

A parent said they had worried that a child might receive fresh milk, forget to drink it and leave it unrefrigerated. At the school, students instead tap their school IDs on the machine and take the milk at a convenient time.

The parent praised the arrangement online, calling it “really great” and thanking the Tainan mayor. Other users described the system as highly advanced. One said they had assumed schools would distribute the milk at a fixed time and require students to drink it immediately.

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Wow, that’s way too advanced.

The discussion also highlighted differences between schools. One commenter said schools choose fresh milk or shelf-stable milk according to their own cold-chain facilities, adding that not every school in Tainan can handle fresh milk. The parent later clarified that the machine had already been installed at the school and previously sold only fresh milk, soy milk and bottled water. The school converted it for milk collection after the government program was introduced.

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I really thought it would be delivered to the school at a designated time, and then students would have to drink it immediately. I’m so out of touch.