🎧The Cost of a Hot Lunch

A school lunch can arrive on time even when the people making it are struggling. How did South Korea’s school kitchen workers get others to listen?
This episode follows the workers whose accounts of illness helped prompt investigations and lung cancer screening, and the unions, researchers, and parents who brought kitchen conditions into public view.
There’s also a small thought experiment: one worker is off sick, the ingredients have arrived, and the lunch bell shows no interest in rescheduling.
The companion newsletter, The Cost of a Hot Lunch (yoonjiwon.substack.com/p/korean-school-lunch-w…), examines working conditions and what needs to change. Here, the focus is on the people who got others to pay attention. Read one (yoonjiwon.substack.com/p/korean-school-lunch-w…), listen to the other, and you get the whole picture. There’s more to this lunch than fits on one tray.
Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode
안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; nice to meet you / glad to see you
급식 (geupsik) — meals provided by an institution; school meals in this episode
급식실 (geupsiksil) — a school cafeteria or school meal facility
산재 (sanjae) — a work-related injury or illness; short for 산업재해
산업재해 (saneop jaehae) — occupational injury or disease; the full term behind 산재
조리흄 (jori hyum) — cooking fumes; particles and gases released during cooking
대체인력 (daeche illyeok) — replacement or substitute staff who cover another worker’s absence
정성 (jeongseong) — the care and sincere effort someone puts into what they do
정치하는엄마들 (Jeongchihaneun Eommadeul) — literally “Mothers Who Do Politics”; the Korean civic group known as Political Mamas
구내식당 (gunaesikdang) — an in-house cafeteria, such as one serving employees at a workplace
오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today, too
다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo) — See you next week
💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here (jiwon-yoon.com/links)and share your thoughts, stories, or questions.

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