In the autumn of 2011, the State Council released a directive to improve the nutrition of school students in rural areas. By the end of 2020, central authorities had allocated 147.2 billion yuan (US$22.8b) in 1,762 counties and 40 million children have benefited from the nutrition improvement program. More than 30 billion yuan (US$4.7b) was allocated to construct 68,500 school cafeterias. Many parents in rural areas are farmers or migrant workers who struggle to prepare lunch for their children. The school meal program has helped eradicate malnutrition for many children. However, education experts warned that now it is important to ensure food safety and improve supervision of the purchase of ingredients and food storage.
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