On Friday, September 25, Vinnytsia, Vyshneve, Sheptytsky, Lebedyn, and Zaporizhia signed memorandums with the Ministry of Infrastructure on the construction of five more factory-kitchens, Minister of Education and Science Andriy Butenko has reported.
"These projects were selected by the Ministry for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport of Ukraine with the support of the European Investment Bank on a competitive basis. According to preliminary calculations, the new factory-kitchens will be able to provide meals for approximately 181 educational institutions – schools and kindergartens, including in rural settlements," Butenko wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday.
He emphasized that the school nutrition reform primarily concerns children's health and the formation of their eating habits.
"It is important that every child, regardless of their place of residence, has access to full hot meals. For small and rural schools where it is difficult to organize their own kitchen, factory-kitchens can also become an effective solution. At the same time, this model allows communities to ensure stable food quality across the entire network of educational institutions," the minister stressed.
He also visited the first factory-kitchen in Bucha. This is a model that allows for the centralized preparation of high-quality and balanced lunches, ensuring uniform food standards and more efficient use of community resources.
"We are working with communities to ensure schools are ready to work with such kitchens. After all, it is important not only to prepare a quality lunch, but also to deliver it on time, properly store it, and serve it to children. That is why the Ministry of Education and Science primarily directs the subvention to the modernization of catering units that receive ready-made chilled food in schools located within the factory-kitchen network. I am glad that more and more communities are choosing this model," the minister summarized.
