Food services needed
For a long time, the Council of Agriculture has been responsible for agricultural, fishery and husbandry production at the front-end, while the Ministry of Health and Welfare, recently reorganized, has been responsible for medical and healthcare services at the back-end.
However, an institution responsible for the crucial middle-end food and nutrition service has been missing in Taiwan’s government system.
Take the Food and Nutrition Service under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), for example. It is funding 16 nutrition assistance programs that provide long-term care to those in need, and has built an online platform for the management and integration of the agricultural product supply chain.
Everything from purchase and distribution to the tracking of food is registered at and implemented by the platform.
Every day, tens of millions of Americans obtain healthy food, form dietary habits and increase their nutritional knowledge with help from the USDA’s concrete aid.
The Council of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Agency has established four branches: the northern, central, southern and eastern regional offices.
Each township has its own farmers’ or fishermen’s association. Supermarkets and convenience stores are widely available nationwide, while the domestic logistics transportation network is complete.
As there is still no agreement on the division of duties between the proposed ministries of agriculture and of environment and resources, the government should seriously consider including food and nutrition services with the duties of the agriculture ministry to strengthen the new ministries’ service functions.
Barry Hsu
Taitung
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