Safeguarding Citizens' Health: Taichung Achieves Five-Star Honor and Tops Among Six Major Cities in National Food Education Assessment

Taichung City has been selected for the first time as the highest honor 'Five-Star City' in the '2026 Food Education City Survey' released by FoodNEXT, ranking third nationwide and first among the six major cities. The city ranked first nationwide in the 'Education and Culture' indicator and has topped the six major cities in 'Food Safety and Hygiene' for three consecutive years. Additionally, in the Executive Yuan's Five-Link Food Safety Policy Plan evaluation, Taichung achieved top performance among the six major cities and secured a 'five-time consecutive victory' in food safety excellence.

Deputy Mayor Lai Shu-Hui stated at today's (28th) city council meeting that promoting food education is a long-term, cross-agency effort. The outstanding results in this professional assessment are attributed to years of collaborative efforts by various departments, and such achievements are hard-earned. She encouraged all agencies to continue working together to ensure safer production and consumption practices and jointly safeguard citizens' health.

Today, Agriculture Bureau Director Li Yi-An delivered a special report titled 'From Eco-Friendly Farming to Local Production for Local Consumption: Building Taichung’s Food Education Power.' Director Li stated that the Agriculture Bureau is advancing food education policies through four main pillars, creating a safer production and consumption environment, implementing various measures, and aligning with environmental sustainability goals. He also expressed gratitude to agencies such as the Environmental Protection Bureau, Education Bureau, and Health Bureau for their joint efforts.

Li Yi-An explained that Taichung’s food education policy centers on four core pillars—'Agricultural Safety, Food Safety, Education, and Branding'—integrating production, living, and ecology to build a city of food education with full public participation. In terms of source agricultural safety, the Agriculture Bureau actively promotes environmentally friendly agriculture, increasing organic farming area from 300 hectares to 700 hectares—a doubling within seven years. Moreover, Taichung pioneered the establishment of two Organic Agriculture Promotion Zones in Dajia’s 'Longquan' and Waipu’s 'Hebadai,' concentrating advisory resources to expand eco-friendly farming outcomes.

Additionally, the Agriculture Bureau has introduced smart technologies to support precision pest and disease control, assisting over 400 farms and livestock operations and establishing more than 20 smart agriculture demonstration sites. The bureau has also promoted the Plant Doctor system, conducting 75 training sessions and diagnostic services last year, serving 3,451 individuals.

In food safety governance, a comprehensive protection network from production to consumption has been established through cross-departmental collaboration involving agriculture, health, education, and economic development units. Taichung conducts the highest number of pesticide residue inspections among the six major cities, and over 1,000 checks are performed annually on livestock products used in school lunches. The city government has also launched a Food Safety GIS Zone, making food safety information transparent and accessible, enabling citizens to query, participate in, and monitor food safety governance.

Li Yi-An further explained that the Agriculture Bureau and Education Bureau are jointly promoting farm-to-school food education, organizing the 'Food Education Good Farmer' program, connecting 30 schools with 12 local agricultural markets, showcasing food and agriculture education capabilities. In upgrading leisure farms, over 32 farms have been guided to transform into important venues for food and agricultural education and environmental education. The Agriculture Bureau has launched the official 'Taichung Leads Fresh' brand, centered on quality, innovation, and sustainability, integrating high-quality local agricultural products, encouraging local production for local consumption, shortening food miles, stabilizing farmers’ incomes, and creating a positive cycle benefiting public health, farmers, and environmental sustainability.

The Agriculture Bureau stated that Taichung’s food education policy has formed a sustainable circular network encompassing healthy cities, eco-friendly farming, safe agricultural products, food and agriculture education, local production for local consumption, and farmer support. Moving forward, the city will continue strengthening food safety, promoting sustainable agriculture, deepening brand promotion, and expanding food and agriculture education, integrating agricultural safety, food safety, education, and branding to build a food-education city with full public participation—ensuring citizens eat safely and healthily, farmers produce with greater value, and land is sustainably protected, jointly creating a healthy, sustainable food-education city for all generations to share.