Innovative approaches to school nutrition in Kyiv have become an important step towards improvement. This was emphasized by Valentyn Mondryiivskyi, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration, during a discussion at the European Regional School Nutrition Summit.
He provided examples of the implementation of the school nutrition reform that began in the capital in 2018, which includes three key stages: development of standards, selection of the nutrition format, and sharing of experiences among educational institutions.
“In Kyiv, nutrition is organized by five municipal enterprises and three private companies, while three schools provide food independently. About 50% of educational institutions have a buffet, and 40% offer two dish options. We have fundamentally changed the approach to school dining, giving children the chance to choose,” Mondryiivskyi stated.
He also highlighted that the process of change was challenging. To ensure high-quality nutrition, penalties for suppliers were introduced as stipulated in contracts. For instance, a 20% penalty on the contract amount is applied for poor services, and a fine for late fulfillment of obligations. If food leftovers exceed 50%, payment for services is not made.
As part of the reform, every third food block in schools (129 institutions) has been significantly renovated, modern equipment has been purchased for 331 food blocks (79% of schools), and dishes have been replaced in every fifth school.
Currently, various models of nutrition operate in the capital's educational institutions:
- on-site cooking – meals are prepared and served by chefs who work at the educational institution or by suppliers directly in the school food blocks (these institutions make up 86.3% of the total number, namely 356);
- smart kitchen – cooking meals in a central school and delivering them to neighboring educational institutions.
“This reform is primarily about the child and for the child, specifically for 244,000 students in Kyiv who come to school classrooms and cafeterias every day. More than 60% of them regularly eat at schools,” Mondryiivskyi emphasized.
