No.106 School Lunch Joint Cooking Facility New First Cooking Facility Completed

The new first kitchen, which was being constructed on the east side of Minamiyama Elementary School, has now been completed, and a small completion ceremony was held on October 10, 2020.

The building was already completed in early September 2020, and after that, cooking utensils and washing equipment were installed. The remaining kitchen equipment and supplies will be brought in, and various preparations, simulations, cooking training by contractors, and washing training will take place, leading to operations starting in April 2021.

Now, regarding the reconstruction and relocation of the School Lunch joint cooking facility, this has been a policy I have been working on for many years, and compared to other measures, I have a deep emotional attachment to it. I am overwhelmed with emotion as we reach the completion of this project.

In Inagi City, we have been implementing a complete school lunch program (providing staple food, side dishes, and milk) relatively early compared to other municipalities in Tokyo. The first kitchen has been in operation since February 1, 1971, and in conjunction with the second kitchen, which started operating on April 12, 1999, to accommodate new schools resulting from the Tama New Town development, meals are distributed from two locations.

The first kitchen has significantly deteriorated, and the need for maintenance has been called for for some time, but there have been difficult issues to resolve, making it challenging to realize.

The first issue is the problem of land use zones. The current first kitchen is located adjacent to the first elementary school, but the urban planning land use zone is designated as a "Type 2 Medium- and High-Rise Residential Zone," which prohibits the construction of factories. Additionally, large-scale renovations are treated the same as new construction, so reconstruction is also not possible. This has resulted in a so-called "existing nonconformity" status, leading to the problem that redevelopment on site cannot be carried out.

The second issue is the land problem. Inagi City has long been a municipality with a weak financial base, unable to purchase land for basic public facilities such as compulsory education facilities, and has been forced to continue using leased land for a long time. While part of the site for the first kitchen is city-owned land, the majority is borrowed from local landowners, and it will eventually need to be either purchased or returned. However, even if acquisition were possible, it is land where factory reconstruction cannot be done, and there is no investment return.

The third issue is the problem of the relocation site. Even though it is a school lunch cooking facility, it is essentially a food factory, and as a rule, the areas where it can be constructed are limited to "industrial zones" or "quasi-industrial zones." However, there are very few industrial or quasi-industrial zones of a certain size suitable for cooking facilities within the city.

I served as the Director of the Finance Department in 2006, and as I became aware of the overall financial situation of the city, I recognized this issue. I resolved that it must be addressed eventually and have been nurturing the idea of relocating to the Nanzan area, along with the necessity of establishing a new elementary school in that area.

And, in running for the mayoral election in 2011, I first pledged to establish Minamiyama Elementary School, and after being elected, I promptly secured land for the school and began considering the acquisition of land for factories in the vicinity.

Furthermore, in parallel with this, we consulted the Inagi City School Lunch Joint Cooking Facility Management Committee regarding its future direction and received a report in August 2013.

As a result of the discussions, opinions were expressed that "we would like to continue the complete school lunch that has been implemented so far; the operation of the kitchen should be suitable for a public-private partnership; it is necessary to secure a candidate site for the relocation of the first kitchen facility within the city and to rebuild it as soon as possible; and the second kitchen requires equipment renovations to balance the number of schools served with the first kitchen and to accommodate the increase in the number of meals prepared."

Based on these opinions, in the 2015 mayoral election, we have focused on the promise of rebuilding and relocating the school lunch joint cooking facility and providing allergy-friendly meals.

The first kitchen, which will be completed this time, can provide a maximum of 6,500 meals, and combined with the second kitchen's maximum of 3,000 meals, it will be possible to supply a total of 9,500 meals per day. In the future, we will continue to implement stable and complete school lunch for all elementary and junior high schools in the city, and we will also start providing allergy-friendly meals.

In addition, we have equipped a rice cooking room line to provide warm rice and soup during disasters, taking disaster prevention measures into consideration.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, there are no plans to hold large-scale completion ceremonies; however, we are considering holding a preview event for school officials and Parents or Guardians just before the start of operations next year.

I look forward to the day when I can finally present it to all of you.