Media: Who does nutritious meals “nourish”?

Nutritious meals are to increase nutrition for students, and cannot “nourish” those shady businesses in any case

On November 23, more than 30 students from Qicheng Middle School in Zhaogang Town, Fengqiu County, Xinxiang, suffered from vomiting and diarrhea after eating the school’s nutritious lunch. When interviewed by reporters, Principal Wang of Qicheng Middle School said that he only started delivering lunches last Monday, and he did not expect this situation to occur on Tuesday. On November 25, the Fengqiu County Party Committee and County Government released official news that a joint investigation team had been set up to carry out investigation work overnight. At the same time, Beijing Zhihong Catering Company, which is responsible for catering meals for teachers and students of the school, was also ordered to stop providing meals until the situation is investigated.

“Nutritious meal, nutritious meal, eat a big piece at once.” The words of the parents of the students revealed infinite grief and anger. In this regard, Principal Wang of Qicheng Middle School also felt deeply helpless. He even covered his face and cried bitterly in front of reporters. While saying, "I want the students to eat better," he rejected the parents' proposal to change the meal delivery company, "Because this is education. The bureau invites bids.” When a food safety incident occurs in a school, the person in charge of the school is often the target of public criticism, but Principal Wang’s tearful response seemed to move the parents present. They all complained that “the principal is not responsible for his own affairs, and it is impossible to go to the principal to answer the question.”

↑The principal who was interviewed cried helplessly. Screenshot of the report from Henan TV's "City Report"

"The principal can't take the blame", who can "take the blame"? In other words, after a food safety incident occurs on campus, who should be held responsible? The local education bureau, which is responsible for the bidding, and the Beijing Zhihong Catering Company, which is responsible for the catering, will inevitably face fierce public doubts. Tianyancha shows that Beijing Zhihong Catering Company was established on September 18, 2020, with a registered capital of 50,000 yuan, and the company’s registered address is Fengtai District, Beijing. The question raised by this is why a catering company in Beijing delivers nutritious lunches to schools in Fengqiu County, Xinxiang City? What exactly does the relevant bidding process look like?

In recent years, food safety accidents caused by nutritious lunches have occurred from time to time, and the inside story of the bidding has been exposed many times. It is not only related to the vital interests of countless students and parents, but also related to the ability of good governance. Whether it is implemented in practice - In order to improve the health level of rural students, especially those in poor areas and those from families with financial difficulties, starting from the autumn semester of 2011, the country has launched a nutritional improvement plan for rural compulsory education students. This is good governance that will benefit the present and future generations, but it also means huge expenditures for finance at all levels. Data show that the central government will allocate 26.034 billion yuan in student nutritional meal subsidy funds for the whole year of 2021, an increase of 12.9% over the previous year. Since 2011, the central government has allocated a total of 196.734 billion yuan in student nutritional meal subsidy funds.

Whether the mass vomiting incident among students in Qicheng Middle School was caused by the hygienic quality of nutritious lunches remains to be further investigated. At the same time, what should also be investigated is why the local education authorities chose a catering company in Beijing to provide catering services to local schools instead of looking far away. Although the Government Procurement Law does not impose geographical restrictions on bidders, in a special field such as the catering industry, it is a basic common sense that local enterprises have more cost and efficiency advantages. No matter who the winning bidder is, they will ultimately have to arrange production and catering locally. Even if we do not take into account the food safety risks that may be increased by off-site management, such a search for distant places means an increase in procurement costs. So what is the bidding process and what is the basis for the final selection?

Facing the camera, the choked Principal Wang made people sympathize. His lament that "it is not easy to run a school well" made people even more anxious - nutritious meals are to increase nutrition for students, regardless of How can we not "nutrition" those shady businesses? While thoroughly investigating the health of food, the health of the management mechanism should also be carefully investigated.

Red Star News special commentator Yi Jun

Editor Wang Yintao

Red Star Comment submission email: hxpl2020@qq.com