Korean School Lunch

[Anchor Lead]

Elementary school cafeterias strive to offer meals including regional delicacies from various regions of Korea. Even children who are used to fast food say they like the Korean dishes served at their schools.

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This elementary school cafeteria is busy early in the morning. Blue crabs from Taean are mixed with kimchi. They are later cooked in a broth in a large pot to make a crab kimchi stew known in Korean as "gyegukji," a representative local dish of Seosan and Taean. Other regional dishes waiting to be served include hanwoo bulgogi with baby octopus and rice with garlic.

[Soundbite] Lee Eun-kyung(Nutritionist) : "We skipped fermentation in order to cater to children's palates. We cooked it with domestic baby octopus and prawns."

This school has been providing more than a hundred regional Korean dishes to students this semester.

[Soundbite] Shim Jae-won(Elementary School Student) : "Meals served at my school contain fleshy crabs and taste better."

Although many of the children are used to eating pizza and hamburgers, they became accustomed to Korean cuisine in no time. The supply of local ingredients to schools has contributed to increasing the consumption of agricultural produce from various regions of the country.