The First Lady took part in the Regional Forum on the implementation of school nutrition reform in the Rivne region.
Its participants learned about the implementation of the school nutrition reform in the region. Overall, this was the 19th such forum. Over this time, more than 1,200 communities and local education departments have joined such events, and more than 2,800 participants joined offline.
"It is special as it summarizes a whole stage of our work: the introduction of the cascade method of reform implementation. At this stage, each of you has come a long way from a partnership meeting in the Kyiv region to organizing your own regional forum and developing a regional reform. And now we have a truly nationwide scale. The reform has become horizontal rather than top-down. It has absorbed various experiences, peculiarities, and cool solutions," the President's wife noted.
Olena Zelenska emphasized that a particular challenge for all participants of the reform has become the decrease in families' solvency and the increase in the cost of a portion due to inflation.
"But as a result of our fora, the regions have adequately addressed this challenge as well: in early 2024, many communities began to allocate more funds for catering," the First Lady said.
At the same time, modernization of catering units, development of a network of basic and hub kitchens, construction of kitchen factories, and training of teams are underway.
"We are implementing this reform at a time of threat to us, to our children. And we have to counter the threat with even more care. If a child smiles after school lunch, it affects their resilience. So, it will affect the whole family, the whole society," the President's wife is convinced.
In addition, Olena Zelenska held a meeting with RSA heads on school nutrition reform. The First Lady noted successful regional cases, including the emergence of three culinary hubs in the Odesa region, a hub kitchen in the Horodok community in the Lviv region (where there was a shortage of workers due to the war), the implementation of the reform in the Mykolaiv region despite constant shelling, and the launch of all three catering models in the Kyiv region.
The President's wife emphasized that the most important stage of the reform is coming – at the community level. Foreign partners are ready to support their needs.
"Despite the complexity of the current situation, the state also realizes the importance of the reform. This is evidenced by two subventions allocated this year for the school nutrition reform: modernization of catering units and creation of culinary hubs," the First Lady summarized.
