Free school lunches start nationwide in September, and Tainan says it can deliver them cheaply without cutting quality — good news for parents, and a relief for small rural schools.

• Every elementary and junior high student in Taiwan gets subsidized lunch starting this school year, and Tainan says the money is already in hand and will be paid to schools in advance so no school runs up debts.
• Tainan gets NT$56 per meal, less than the other five big cities, but city officials say local food costs less than in central and northern Taiwan.
• More than 43% of Tainan's schools are small rural ones with under 100 students, too small to buy food cheaply on their own.
• The city fixed that with central kitchens: 57 of them now feed 163 schools, and 258 schools in total — 94.5% of the city — handle their own meals instead of hiring outside caterers.
• Running kitchens in-house also avoids the risk of failed catering tenders leaving students without food.

Outlook: The system goes live when classes resume in September, and the real test will be whether NT$56 a meal holds up once food prices move.