Project Overview
To safeguard the dietary health of 200,000 elementary and junior high school students in Taoyuan City and provide peace of mind to parents, the city has implemented policies aligned with the Executive Yuan’s “Five Food Safety Networks.” The initiative promotes the use of locally produced, traceable ingredients for school lunches, encouraging schools to select ingredients with organic certification, production traceability certification, CAS (Taiwan Premium Agricultural Products) certification, or Taiwan agricultural product QR code traceability (known as “Three Certifications and One QR Code”). This strengthens food safety and traceability, ensuring students consume clearly sourced, high-quality domestic agricultural products while raising environmental awareness, appreciation for local food culture, and developing local low-carbon dining habits through food and agricultural education.
Since 2015, Taoyuan City has been actively promoting the designation of leisure agriculture zones. Despite having 48,000 hectares of agricultural land and diverse crop varieties ideal for leisure agriculture development, no leisure agriculture zones had been officially designated. Through guidance and resource inventory, the city aims to successfully establish leisure agriculture zones to address existing challenges such as rural population outmigration and aging, insufficient regulatory awareness, relatively underdeveloped leisure agriculture organizations, and low agricultural land utilization.
Taoyuan possesses diverse rural ecosystems and abundant resources. As local consensus formed and numerous farms in the region matured, the Taoyuan City Government and guidance teams began conducting resource inventories and site inspections with relevant units, gaining in-depth understanding of local conditions at various farms. They provided recommendations and guidance for improvement regarding legal compliance and environmental facilities. The Taoyuan City Government, acting as supervisor, commissioned professional teams to thoroughly understand local agriculture, culture, ecology, geography, and communities, developing directional plans for each area, identifying and even creating distinctive features, attempting to leverage Taoyuan’s existing agricultural production strength to promote transformation into sixth-tier industry.
Through an SOP of “organization establishment - resource inventory - training courses - rural inspections - proposal submission - pre-inspection rehearsal,” guidance measures were implemented according to the Ministry of Agriculture’s review process. After zone designation, the Taoyuan City Government continues to strengthen organizational functions through self-conducted city evaluations while promoting sustainable development of leisure agriculture zones through a mentoring system.
Implementation Benefits
(1) As of June 2023, Taoyuan City has established 10 designated leisure agriculture zones: Lotus Garden in Guanyin District, Xihai in Dayuan District, Yuemei in Daxi, Dabeikeng in Longtan, Dagushan in Luzhu, Yangmei in Yangmei District, Kengzixi in Luzhu District, Taiwan Highway 7 Taohuayuan in Fuxing and Daxi, Kangzhuang in Daxi, and Haikezu in Xinwu.
(2) Following the designation of these zones, each area’s unique characteristics have been strengthened. By combining seasonal flowers, festivals, agricultural transformation, leisure agriculture, and experiential economics, distinct brands and differentiation have been established for each zone. Various activities help shape Taoyuan’s reputation while rapidly enhancing the prominence and recognition of each leisure agriculture zone.
(3) By utilizing pastoral landscapes, natural ecology, and environmental resources in conjunction with agricultural production and management activities, these zones provide opportunities for public recreation, hands-on experiences, and understanding of rural culture. This foundation integrates primary production, secondary agricultural processing, and tertiary recreational services to promote sixth-tier industry synergy, bringing economic benefits to local residents and businesses.
(4) Taoyuan City’s “Safe School Lunch Ingredients” policy provides organic vegetables three days per week and traceable produce one day per week for student lunches, ensuring proper nutrition and health for elementary and junior high school students. According to the Agriculture and Food Agency’s Agricultural Product Traceability System, by the end of December 2023, the city’s certified traceable agricultural area reached 3,419 hectares. Additionally, according to the Global Organic Agriculture Information Network, by the end of June 2023, Taoyuan City’s organic cultivation area reached 472 hectares, ranking second among northern counties/cities and twelfth nationally. Taoyuan City primarily focuses on vegetable cultivation, with 308 hectares representing the largest organic vegetable growing area in northern Taiwan.
(5) No Poverty: Organic agriculture helps increase farm income through diversified production, reduced external costs, and expanded marketing channels, effectively contributing to poverty reduction.
(6) Eliminating Hunger and Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: To promote organic agriculture development in Taoyuan City, the government provides guidance and subsidies for farmers to purchase necessary agricultural machinery, greenhouse facilities, biological control materials, and organic certification and inspection fees. To expand traceable agricultural production, subsidies are provided for certification and inspection costs, reducing farmers’ burdens and ensuring product quality. This increases agricultural competitiveness and adaptability, maintains agricultural production, increases farmers’ income, and reduces soil degradation from long-term chemical pesticide use while restoring soil fertility. These measures promote ecological balance and sustainable development, ensuring continued production of safe agricultural products and eliminating concerns about global food shortages.