A scandal has erupted at a school in Lviv over suspicious free lunches
Ihor Zinkevych, a member of the Lviv City Council, posted photos of lunches from the cafeteria at Lviv School No. 32, the appearance of which sparked outrage and raised questions among parents and social media users about the quality of the children’s meals.
The published photos show dishes with whole, uncut cucumbers, half-cooked or burnt potatoes, as well as pasta with an unrecognizable grayish-green chunk of food. The politician stated that he had requested an explanation from the Department of Education and the school administration but had not yet received a response, and he urged parents to send photos of similar school lunches so that further inspections could be conducted.
This is stated in a Facebook post by Ihor Zinkevych.
On September 1, 2026, the final phase of scaling up the state program for free hot meals began in Ukraine, extending the program to all students in grades 1–11 (12) at public schools offering full-time and blended learning formats.
Schools in Chernivtsi will have their student meals inspected following the raw carrot scandal.
In Ukraine, meal services were inspected at 567 schools where students in grades 1–11 receive free hot lunches. Deficiencies related to food storage, hygiene, menus, and food preparation were found in nearly half of the schools. At the same time, no food safety violations were found in approximately half of the schools inspected.
