Soldiers' meals get moms' touch

Mothers put dumplings on the plate in order to evaluate the quality of food served for soldiers at the Ministry of National Defense, Monday. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

One common wish for all active soldiers is to eat homemade meals cooked by their mothers.

Now some lucky sons in the armed services can do just that.

The Ministry of National Defense said Monday that 15 mothers of active soldiers are now working as “food monitors” to help the military select suppliers of ingredients and evaluate the quality of the produce.

The group, formed last year, attended a food testing event at the ministry and evaluated the food supplied by companies.

The ministry launched the program as part of efforts to improve the quality of food provided for soldiers.

During Monday’s event, the mothers tasted dumplings while monitoring the color and smell of the food. They also checked company management arrangements and the production capacity of suppliers.

Sohn Kyung-hee, 50, a mother of a private serving in Gapyeong, said she was happy to choose what was best for her son.

“Mothers tried dumplings made by three companies, and I could easily distinguish which dumpling was good and which was bad,” she said. “The first one I tried was a bit salty, while the third one was too small and had few vegetables. I thought the second one was best.”

Including Sohn, the participants were given a check list of taste, smell and smoothness for each dumpling and asked to give them scores ranging from one to five.

Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok explained that the ministry chooses the supplier according to the taste of available produce as well as details assessed during a document examination.

“From this year, the mothers’ group will participate in the food testing as evaluation staff,” he said.

The ministry will reflect the results of mothers’ evaluation when selecting the supplier of dumplings, he said.

It is also planning to hold a separate food testing event so that 50 soldiers and officers can taste and evaluate the food.

It stressed that direct evaluation of the food will increase satisfaction of military meals.

Every April, the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (DTaQ) selects members of the mothers’ monitoring group after conducting interviews and examining documents.

The inaugural group was formed last year.

The mothers participate directly in the process of manufacturing, distribution and cooking in order to check the safety of the food their sons eat. They have toured barracks across the nation as well as food supply companies.

On May 19, they visited the 20th Fighter Wing of the Air Force in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.

“The group was launched to transparently open the real conditions of the military meals to the public, and collect various ideas made by those who are worried about their sons,” said DTaQ President Lee Hun-gon at the launch ceremony of the second group held at Coex Mall in southern Seoul, on April 30.

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