GOV’T TO OVERHAUL MILITARY FOOD SYSTEM

[Anchor Lead]

The government decided to overhaul the military food service system in 50 years to improve the poor quality of meals served to soldiers. Starting in 2025, all food vendors will have to compete to supply the ingredients to the military and the amount of soldiers’ least favorite foods will be gradually reduced. Also, soldiers will be allowed to participate in making up the menus.

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Several photos of military meals were posted on social media this year. Complaints about the lack of side dishes flooded the social media sites. But soldiers didn’t eat much fish, prompting the military to allocate 18 billion won this year just to process leftovers. In order to fix these problems, the government presented a military food service plan catering to its main consumers: the soldiers. The agricultural, livestock and fisheries co-ops have been contracted privately to supply food ingredients to the military for the past 50 years. The amount provided by these co-ops will be gradually reduced, starting in 2022, and the food vendors will have to compete with each other to provide food ingredients by 2025. The idea to include soldiers in menu-making will be reviewed as well. Pigs and chickens used to be purchased whole, but the military will now be able to selectively purchase only favored cuts. The military also decided to remove the requirement that rice should be included in bread, which was initiated to encourage rice consumption. Mandatory distribution of plain milk will also be terminated to allow soldiers a wider selection of dairy products. From next year, the military will be allowed to purchase sixteen food items, such as canned tuna, black bean paste and curry from large corporations, instead of small and mid sized companies. Military food contractors and farmers are protesting the plan.

[Soundbite] Jo Gyu-yong(Chair, Council of Military Suppliers of Livestock Products) : "Most of the farmers supplying to the military are old and own small farms. How can they compete with large conglomerates?"

The defense ministry said that only local products will be purchased and farmers already supplying to the military will be given priority if they meet the requirements. The Ministry will also raise the daily meal cost per soldier to 15,000 won by 2024 and increase the number of military chefs as well as private cooks.