Kharkiv civil and business initiatives
During August-September 2024, the Kharkiv team of project researchers implemented a local tour dedicated to communicating with stakeholders working in the field of food policy and security, circular production, and Zero Waste principles. The purpose of the tour was to facilitate the exchange of best practices and knowledge on the implementation of food policy, security and circular production in local conditions, as well as to support local initiatives that contribute to improving the environmental situation and increasing food security in the region.
For the Kharkiv project team, it was important to meet with local producers, organizations, and experts to get detailed information about the situation in the field of food security and circular production. The first place we visited was the «Kharkiv Dairy Kitchen for Baby Food», which is a unique enterprise that has been providing children under the age of three with natural dairy products since 1978. The company offers a wide range of products, including sterilized milk, baby kefir, fermented milk drinks, butter, sour cream, baby cheese, fruit and vegetable purees, and milk cereals. The products are made from high-quality, environmentally friendly raw materials supplied by an agricultural enterprise that has the status of a special raw material base for the production of baby food. The absence of preservatives is confirmed by the short shelf life of the products – no more than 48 hours.
Dairy Kitchen
Supporting Local Initiatives
Next, we talked to the founders of the «De-occupation Shop» (in Ukrainian «Lavka Deokupatsii») volunteer project initiated by the Volunteer Charitable Foundation in Kharkiv. The goal of the project is to support residents of the de-occupied villages of the Kharkiv region by giving them the opportunity to sell their own vegetables and fruits in Kharkiv. The «De-occupation Shop» started its operations in June 2024. The first participants were residents of the villages of Studenok and Dovhenke, Izium district, who restored their farms after the de-occupation and began growing vegetables. The products presented in «De-occupation Shop» include cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, honey, and other goods.
- The project provides villagers with greenhouses, seeds and other necessary resources to restore their farms destroyed during the occupation.
- The grown vegetables and fruits are delivered to Kharkiv, where they are sold at the 7th Warehouse and other locations.
- The project promotes the economic independence of villagers by giving them the opportunity to earn money from their own labor and rebuild their communities.
De-occupation Shop
Innovative Food Initiatives
Home cooked meals for those in need
We also managed to talk to Ms. Yulia Bondar, who founded the Julias_Kitchen volunteer food initiative at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This initiative was born in the summer of 2022 in a small kitchen of 8 square meters. At first, it all started with home-cooked meals that Julia prepared for those who needed them most. Realizing that her own strength was not enough, she recruited her friends, each of whom was responsible for their own specialties – cheesecakes, pancakes, and other delicacies made with love and dedication. Later, together with the volunteers, Yulia began to think about how to create products for long-term storage. That’s how the idea of energy bars came about, with each recipe carefully tested and refined. One of the most favorite products was the «nut bomb» – a bar with walnuts, peanuts, cocoa and condensed milk. Each product was personally tested by the team to ensure flavor and nutrition. When demand grew, Julia found a place with professional equipment, which allowed her to expand production. Now Julias_kitchen produces 500-700 servings per week, which go to the places where they are needed most. Despite the volunteer format, the team works with full dedication, even if the number of people on a shift varies depending on the circumstances.
The snail farms
Another location visited by our researchers is a snail farm, which is a unique example of a food farm in the city of Kharkiv. This snail farm was born out of an unexpected idea and the determination of its founders, who had never been involved in farming or agriculture before. At the end of 2022, the couple decided to try breeding edible snails. They were inspired by a meeting with a man who had his own farm, and after studying the topic, they confidently launched their own production with the first reproducer placed in a specially built room in January 2023. Despite the lack of a snail consumption culture in the region, the farmers gradually established connections with restaurants in Kharkiv, Odesa, and Izmail, which now offer this exotic delicacy to their guests. Given the challenges – power outages, dependence on temperature and humidity – the farm continues to adapt, using generators and adjusting production to suit the conditions. Thanks to the grant program, the farm has hired additional workers and plans to expand, creating jobs for both locals and internally displaced people. This project has become an important source of new opportunities for the region, as well as a contribution to the development of a snail consumption culture in Ukraine. The farm strives for further development and is ready to surprise with new tastes and new opportunities.
Ravlykova Snail Farm
Zero Waste Kharkiv
We also talked to our local partners, Zero Waste Kharkiv, an organization founded in 2018 that is actively working to implement zero waste principles in Kharkiv and the region. Its mission is to change the culture of consumption and waste management, promoting resource conservation and environmental protection. Zero Waste Kharkiv strives to change attitudes towards resources and prevent global pollution by educating adults and children, as well as implementing practical solutions in everyday life. The organization also actively cooperates with other environmental initiatives and is a co-founder of the Zero Waste Alliance Ukraine, an association of organizations and activists working to solve the waste problem in Ukraine. Our team visited the Zero Waste Yard, a public space where the zero-waste concept is being implemented. The eco-hub is divided into zones, each of which complies with the principles of zero waste. Here, residents can sort waste, exchange items for reuse, attend repair and upcycling workshops, and buy eco-friendly goods.
Our tour has become an important platform for sharing experiences and practices between representatives of different sectors working to improve the environmental situation and food security in the region. Based on the results of the tour, the research team plans to continue working with local stakeholders to implement the ideas and projects received. Further meetings are planned to be held, and cooperation will be expanded to improve food security and support environmental initiatives that will have a positive impact on the region’s ecological status.