School cooks invited to battle it out for healthiest chef prize

The China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) announced yesterday that it is inviting cooks at local schools to take part in a competition preparing nutritious lunches for students.

The competition will be held from Oct. 11 to Oct. 14. The contestants will be given a budget of NT$900 to prepare meals consisting of three dishes and soup for 30 people. The meals must meet the nutritional needs of schoolchildren, China Development Financial said.

The school that wins first prize will get NT$200,000 to spend on food preparation, and the cook will get NT$50,000.

Second prize will be worth NT$150,000, with the cook getting NT$30,000, and the third prize will be worth NT$100,000, with the cook receiving NT$20,000, China Development Financial said.

Although elementary and junior high schools with more than 40 classes are required by law to hire a nutritional consultant, approximately 90 percent of schools outside Taipei and Kaohsiung do not have these because of the financial difficulties of local governments, according to the Ministry of Education.

Addressing this problem, education minister Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said yesterday the Cabinet will earmark an NT$200 million (US$6 million) next year for hiring nutritional consultants for schools.

Tu urged any schools that have financial problems to inform local governments and the ministry about their problems to ensure that no student goes hungry.