Taoyuan to expand free milk program to junior high school students

Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Taoyuan will expand its free milk program to include junior high school students beginning with the 2026 school year that commences on Aug. 31, the Taoyuan City government announced Wednesday.

With the addition of about 67,000 junior high school students, the program will benefit about 280,000 students ages 2-15, from preschool through junior high school, Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng (張善政) was cited as saying in a city government press release.

The city said the expansion is intended to provide essential nutrients to junior high school students during a critical stage of their growth and development.

The program was launched in February 2026 and provides one free milk or soy milk product per week to every preschool and elementary school student in Taoyuan. The city said the take-up rate had reached about 70 percent.

The announcement came a week after Taipei expanded its free milk program to include junior high school students, making Taoyuan, Taipei and Tainan the only special municipalities to provide free milk to junior high school students. Tainan provides one free milk product per week alongside school lunches.

New Taipei and Taichung also offer free milk programs for preschool and elementary school students, while Kaohsiung provides one free milk product per week with school lunches to students at public preschools and elementary schools.

Taoyuan also announced that its free school lunch program will be expanded to cover homeroom teachers and school meal coordinators at all elementary and junior high schools, benefiting 7,465 faculty members beginning in the 2026 school year.

Chang said Taoyuan was the first of Taiwan's six special municipalities to introduce free school lunches for elementary and junior high school students in February 2023.

He added that the city has increased its annual budget to keep pace with inflation and expanded the use of high-quality local produce to improve school lunches.

The latest expansion will extend the program's benefits to frontline education workers, Chang said.