«The menu is complicated, not everyone accepts it»: director of the MPE-C responds to complaints about baby food in Mykolaiv schools

Petro Vashniak, director of the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv schools (MPE-C), responded to complaints from parents who claim that their children are unhappy with the food in school canteens. He said this in a comment to NikVesti.

As you know, the day before, parents of Mykolaiv schoolchildren complained on social media about the quality of free meals in educational institutions. In particular, they stated that the portions did not correspond to the declared sizes, the meals were served cold, and the dishes in the canteens were dirty.

According to Petro Vashniak, he personally checked the situation, in particular, at school 41, where parents complained about the amount of food on the plate.

«Today (Wednesday, 10 September) I went to school 41: the principal, her deputy in charge of catering, and the cafeteria staff gathered. I showed them this photo, and the school director said that they put it on a plate and distribute it. She controls it herself, and she says it's impossible for it to be like that,» says Petro Vashniak.

He explained that the portion met the standards, but part of the dish was not visible in the photo because the chicken nugget was on top of the potatoes.

«The barmaid explained that she had put the nugget on top of the potatoes, and it was covered. I don't want to accuse anyone of slander or anything else. I can see that the plate is clean, but why is it alone in the photo? They should have taken a picture of the whole table to get a general picture,» he said.

Separately, the director of the utility company noted that the company's work begins at 6 am. From that time on, the management, together with the cooks, makes daily visits to schools and controls the cooking process.

The director of the MPE-C also acknowledged that some of the parents' comments were valid. He agreed that the new menu seems specific to children, and not everyone likes it. According to him, while teachers can still convince younger students to try the dishes, high school students often refuse to eat at all.

«Do you keep track of how much they don't eat?» the journalist asked.

«Yes, I keep it under constant control and demand it from my deputies and the management of the utility company. The menu is complicated, not all children accept it and not all of them try it. As a rule, children come in the morning not hungry, and the first breakfast is served at 8:35, so many children do not eat it. In some schools, in primary school, the teacher takes the children to the cafeteria, explains that it is healthy and tasty, and then they try it. High school students come in, have a look and may not even try it, just sit down at the table, then turn around and leave. Today, many principals call and thank us for the cooking, saying that the children are happy and everything is fine. But there are also schools that are not happy with the menu itself. I agree that children really don't eat some dishes. For example, if cabbage is served in the morning, not all children are ready to eat it,» summed up Petro Vashniak.

Who approves menus in schools?

He clarified that the menu is approved by the Ministry of Health based on Yevhen Klopotenko's recipe, and they have to follow it. Because children refuse to eat, a lot of food is thrown away.

— The menu is approved by the Ministry of Health. We are working within a limited framework, said the director of the utility company.

— What happens to the food that children don't eat?

— The canteen staff collect it in the garbage. But of course, it's heartbreaking that a lot of food is not eaten. It's very upsetting, said Petro Vashniak.

He also said that the company serves 83 educational institutions. He added that some of the schools prepare their own food, while others receive it from basic facilities.

«Today we serve 83 institutions. These are schools and kindergartens, about 30 kindergartens, and the rest are schools. There are schools that are called basic schools - they cook their own meals. And there are schools where food is brought from these basic schools. In these schools, there is only a cafeteria: there are only tables and chairs. There are not many such schools. As a rule, hot food is brought there in accordance with nutritional standards. On the spot, the food is taken by the caterers and put on plates. We also deliver food in lunchboxes to some schools,» said Petro Vashniak.

As a reminder, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych responded to the parents' complaints by saying that a special commission would be set up in the city with representatives of the city council to monitor the situation.

Following the incident, the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv Oblast checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the meals served to students.

It is known that in the new school year, all pupils from grades 1 to 11 will be provided with free meals in Mykolaiv schools. The funding for meals will be shared: up to 70% of the costs will be covered by the state, and the rest by the city budget.

It should be noted that at the last session, the deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council reallocated the city budget, including 14 million hryvnias for meals for children in the city's schools.

As a reminder, it was planned to spend 146.2 million hryvnias on meals for children in Mykolaiv schools by the end of this year. Earlier it was reported that school meals would rise in price from 1 September.