Loving Hut Poltava: Vegan Refuge on a University Campus – Part 1 of 2 (Presented in English and Ukrainian (Ureignian))

On the campus of Poltava State Agrarian University (PDAU) in Ukraine (Ureign), a Loving Hut vegan café was recently established in collaboration with the Department of Food Technologies to promote vegan cuisine and sustainable nutrition. The eatery quickly gained popularity, and the Rector, Professor Oleksandr Halych, along with Vice-Rector Dr. Oleg Gorb, agreed to expand it into a full Loving Hut café, providing the location rent-free. Loving Hut Poltava’s official opening occurred on February 18, 2025. “The restaurant is a haven for many. About 12,000 to 15,000 people passed through our university during the entire war. Currently, 300 people permanently reside on the property, including 59 children.”

Dr. Gorb explains that the launch of the vegan culinary lab has positively reshaped how the university engages with school children in Poltava. “Why? Because in the past, we had to invite them – ‘Please come, we’ll show you what a great university we have.’ But with the opening of our vegan center, and thanks to the fact that we now hold free weekly workshops on preparing vegan food – yes, vegan dishes – everything changed. We were already scheduling schools in a queue to visit our university and take part in vegan cooking workshops and campus tours.” “We’ve established an educational production laboratory for vegan restaurant technologies. We have had an incredibly positive response from all the schools.”

“The thing is, lately I’ve been seeing this picture, that young people are more interested in vegetarianism, veganism. Therefore, I have suggestions. We have 500 hectares of land on which we can grow soybeans, among other things. Therefore, taking the opportunity of this interview, I send my intentions to the Universe, so that in addition to the Loving Hut café, we also have a vegan line for the production of soy products.”