Culinary Hubs
Training Centers for School Cooks
Status: Completed
Implementation DateMarch 2023 - December 2023
Project Focus Areas:School nutrition system reform
Partner
The project was implemented with financial support from the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine (FDFA).
Project Goal
To establish a network of vocational education centers (Culinary Hubs) aimed at improving the qualifications of school cooks and enhancing school nutrition as part of the broader reform of the school food system.
A Culinary Hub is a modern training facility equipped with state-of-the-art kitchen technology, designed to teach both vocational students and school cafeteria cooks how to prepare meals from the updated school menu developed by Ukrainian chef and restaurateur Yevhen Klopotenko.
The project focused on three key areas:
- Modernization of school kitchens – renovating food preparation facilities, upgrading equipment, and ensuring compliance with HACCP food safety standards.
- Development of educational materials – creating guidelines and programs to help hubs tailor their training curriculato regional needs.
- Training “agents of change” – trainers and vocational instructors were educated under a new curriculum to later train school cooks. The program included both theory and hands-on experience in modern kitchen facilities using high-tech equipment.
The main goal of the hubs was to improve the quality of school meals by enhancing the professional skills of school cooks and establishing a sustainable model for vocational training and retraining of culinary staff.
The Culinary Hub model developed within this project is now being scaled across Ukraine.
Three Culinary Hubs established:
- Chortkiv – Chortkiv Higher Vocational School
- Kremenchuk – Regional Center for Vocational Education No.1
- Odesa – Odesa Center for Vocational Education
60 trainers trained – these “agents of change” are now passing on their expertise to school cooks nationwide.
Hubs continue to operate beyond the project timeframe, regularly training new cohorts of school cooks.
Ongoing training programs:
- January 23-25, 2024 – Kremenchuk Hub trained 57 school cooks.
- January 31 - February 2, 2024 – Odesa Hub provided qualification courses for 120 school cooks.
- February 7-9, 2024 – Chortkiv Hub hosted 40 school cooks from various communities in Ternopil Oblast.
- The project has already ensured a new generation of school cooks, equipped with modern knowledge and skills to improve school nutrition, contributing to better health and well-being of students.
- At least 3 million schoolchildren across Ukraine are expected to benefit from higher-quality, nutritious, and delicious meals.
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