2016.10.31
School lunch milk changed to processed variety
Because of decreasing volume of raw milk production on Okinawa, milk given to students with school-provided lunches on Okinawa has been changed to processed milk.
According to the Okinawa Prefecture Livestock Industry Department, the schools started serving processed milk from Oct 14th, and will continue serving it until mid November. Officials at the department say the reason is the current shortage of raw milk, but add that the measure is a temporary solution.
The Livestock Industry Department started serving raw milk with school-provided lunches in 2001 in order to promote Okinawan dairy business, but the decreasing volume of locally produced dairy products has seriously affected Okinawa since this summer.
Supermarkets on Okinawa import raw milk from Hokkaido to cover the shortage, but industry sources related to local dairy products say they want to use and push Okinawa made products, and milk for school-provided lunches has been changed to processed milk produced on Okinawa.