[Letters]Battling bad school meals

I am writing in response to Lee Soo-jin, who wrote “Our awful school meals” (Letter to the editor, March 10).

High school students pay around 100,000 won ($68) a month for their school lunch program. This is approximately 5,000 won for one lunch. This is a mandatory fee; parents have no choice. If 1,000 students pay 100,000 won, this comes to 100 million won per month.

For this amount of money there are many restaurants which supply delicious, nutritious meals.

School lunch providers are (all) business people - their prime motive (not all) is not to give students a healthy lunch; they are profit-driven.

I sympathize with this student’s complaint. And I understand that (s)he feels this problem is not being sufficiently addressed by parents, school officials or the government. I therefore offer a solution.

If the situation is bad enough, then they should organize a student boycott of the lunch program. If the problem is countrywide, as the letter implies, a national student-led boycott would propel the issue to the national agenda.

Don’t just whine and complain; organize. That is the solution. Your voice can and will be heard if it is loud enough.

Good luck, and happy eating, Soo-jin.

Ken Dinnery, Seoul