Free-range chickens raised at Mingde Minimum-Security Prison in Tainan were the best-selling jail-made food nationwide last year, the Agency of Corrections said.
Sales reached NT$10.60 million (US$344,772) with more than 4,000 customers, many placing repeat orders, an agency official said.
The prison is in a mountainous area with fresh air and good quality water, and has 30,000 Taiwan black-feathered country chickens housed in several coops.
Photo: Courtesy of the Agency of Corrections
The medium-sized chickens are more disease-resistant than other species, the prison said.
The chickens are raised in an open environment where they can freely roam and forage, although they are also fed vegetable leaves and grass, it said.
They are not given antibiotics or exposed to other chemicals, and are slaughtered when they reach four months, the prison said.
Other top-selling prison-produced products last year were “homemade” egg-rolls and pastries from Tainan Prison, with NT$10.44 million in sales; and nut tarts from Kaohsiung Women’s Prison, which made NT$7.8 million, the agency official said.
Initiated in 2006, the nation’s prison work program aims to teach inmates life skills and improve their ability to join the workforce on release.
All healthy prisoners are required to participate in the program, with training courses that teach basic skills in sewing, arts and food manufacturing held occasionally, the official said.
Most of the sales revenue goes to victim compensation funds, improvement of prison facilities and inmate wages, the official added.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption
RSS