The Past and Present of School Meals

Greeting

The School Meal Cyber Museum is a space that makes it easy to understand and see the flow of the history of school meals in Korea at a glance.

  • Our museum collects, organizes, and preserves various historical materials such as photos, videos, and documents on the development of school meals, and organizes visitors to feel memories of school meals and footsteps by era.

  • We ask for your good opinion and interest in the school meal cyber museum in the future, and we will try to become a more loved and developed museum.

  • In addition, I would like to thank the public for their interest in the development of school meals in Korea and the dedicated efforts of teachers and officials of the previous school who have promoted school meals so far.

* Ministry of Education, 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education, and Korea Education Environmental Protection Agency

Shortcut to the School Meal Cyber Museum

The Past and Present
of School Meals

  • 1953-1972.
    School aid kit

    Milk, corn porridge, and bread meals were provided with foreign aid in 1953 to help children in war disasters. It was a time when the Korean government also made efforts to provide meals with support from foreign aid agencies.

    Milk and corn porridge
  • 1973-1980.
    School self-reliant meal experiment machine

    Even after the end of foreign grain assistance in 1973, bread meals were mainly provided for a certain period of time as before. After that, after the operation of a pilot school for self-supporting school meals suitable for Korean food culture, self-cooked meals with school meal facilities began in 1978.

    Self-supporting School (Namgok Elementary School)
  • 1981-1990.
    School Meal Systemization

    The [School Meals Act] was enacted on January 29, 1981, and the basis for nutritional management standards for meals provided to students, standards for meal facilities, the placement of dedicated staff, and budget support was laid. It is an important time when the institutional foundation for school meals to be managed and found more systematically.

    elementary school classroom meals
  • 1991-2002.
    School meal expansion

    Reflecting the positive effects of school meals, socio-economic development, and parental demands, the targets for school meals gradually expanded to elementary, high school, and middle school. As a result, it is a time when school meals were developed in such a short period of time that it is hard to find its origin in the world.

    Middle School Meals, Elementary School Nutrition Education
  • 2003-present.
    School meal advancement period

    All elementary, middle, and high schools across the country provided full-scale meals. In order to improve the health and diet of growing students, the quality of meals, nutrition, and dietary education were emphasized, and it is the time when an advanced school meal system was introduced, such as the application of HACCP for school meals.

    Inside the HACCP-applied cooking room, high school meals