A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday.
The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml.
It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation takes effect.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Education
“The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education have heard much input about the policy from parents and elementary schools, and have communicated with local government officials,” Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference after a meeting.
“However, dairy product manufacturers and education advocacy groups have very different thoughts about the policy. After hearing briefings from the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) decided that the policy would be suspended, starting next semester,” she said.
Despite the suspension, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Tu Wen-jane (杜文珍) said that the agricultural ministry remains committed to making Taiwan’s dairy farming industry more competitive through breed improvement, disease control, smart management systems and net zero carbon emissions.
The government had planned to spend NT$4.4 billion (US$134.7 million) to fund the policy over the next four years.
Asked what the ministry would do with the remaining funds, Tu said that it would discuss with dairy manufacturers on the best way forward.
The policy, which has been implemented since the beginning of this semester, offers free domestically produced milk to elementary-school students twice a week.
The Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of procuring the milk.
Although the policy is called “Fresh Milk for Every Class,” about 74 percent of schools nationwide were placing orders for extended shelf-life milk as of Monday, and only 26 percent were placing orders for prepackaged fresh milk.
The result was different from a previous survey conducted among local education officials and school principals before the policy was implemented, who predominantly chose fresh milk.
Why most schools in the country would choose extended shelf-life milk over fresh milk is mind-boggling, Dairy Association of Taiwan secretary-general Fang Ching-chuan (方清泉) told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
“Taiwan has no problem delivering fresh milk using cold chain logistics services, and most people in the country prefer drinking fresh milk. As such, 80 percent of domestic milk production capacity is used to produce fresh milk, and only 20 percent is to produce extended shelf-life milk,” he said.
As most schools order extended shelf-life milk, there is a serious backlog of orders, Fang said.
Although retailers are supposed to make eight deliveries to schools each month, they tend to deliver one month’s supply in one trip to save costs, he said.
Instead of properly storing them in school facilities, some schools would distribute six or eight cartons of milk to students as soon as the delivery arrives, he added.
Only recently did schools start asking parents if they want fresh milk or extended shelf-life milk for their children, he said.
The National Federation of Teachers’ Unions welcomed the decision to end the policy, saying that Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chun (陳駿季) should step down for the controversies caused by its implementation.
Instead of helping local farmers and boosting children’s calcium intake, the policy disrupted school schedules, affected quality of learning, and even led to a chaotic production and market for milk products, the federation’s president Hou Chun-liang (侯俊良) said.
“We have repeatedly reminded the government that a well-intended policy is not necessarily a good policy. Government agencies of all levels should learn a lesson and stop treating schools as automated teller machines,” he said.
Dairy Association of Taiwan chairman Hsu Jih-tay (徐濟泰) said he is disappointed about the announcement, but criticized the Ministry of Education for standing behind the teachers’ unions and not taking full responsibility for the failure of policy.
“The purpose of the policy was to ensure that children have adequate calcium intake. Taiwanese drink about 23 liters of milk per year, which is only 10 percent of the amount in countries with normal milk consumption. This is why we have so many people suffering from osteoporosis,” Hsu said.
That the country would simply end a good policy because of protests from teachers baffles him, he added.
Milk is included in school lunches in other countries because dairy products are part of the six nutrients in a balanced diet, he said, adding that the Ministry of Education is negligent for not including dairy products in school lunches.
While the agricultural ministry said that the remaining funds for the free milk policy would be used to upgrade Taiwan’s dairy farming industry, Hsu said that the industry does not need the funds, and the amount of milk consumed by students would not relieve the financial burden of dairy farmers either.
The budget should be used to fund children’s consumption of milk, which should be in their school lunches, he said.
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