A Russian philanthropist, ex-banker Aleksander Lebedev, shared his practice to disseminate a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition culture on ASI. He tested this approach in Crimea, the Moscow and the Tver Region. Three thousand people were provided with free and healthy food, more than 700 thousand portions of food were given to those in need.

According to the survey, residents of a small town can afford to pay only 130 rubles to eat in a cafe. Alexander Lebedev’s project creates a Petrushka chain of healthy-meal cafes where low-income residents can get lunches at a discounted price. Program members are issued credit cards with a monthly amount of 1 thousand rubles. The Petrushka chain has developed a well-balanced and healthy menu with the average lunch price of 200 rubles or less.

Alexander Lebedev told the ASI editorial board about how teams from other regions can implement such a project, what support they can enlist and how the story began.

How did you get the idea and what was the reason for this project?

In April 2014, I recovered in one of the most renowned German clinics. There I learned about the method of the Austrian doctor Franz-Mayer, which treated digestion problems by proper nutrition diet. And I have studied the method.

A little later, I came across an article about former mining towns that, after the mines were closed, turned into ghost towns, a kind of «exclusion zones», as in «Stalker». And I must admit, I felt awkward. And I thought, what can I do to make this German clinic available to the residents of such small towns to help them take care of their health? This was impossible because the German clinic is very expensive, but, again, nutrition is key. My team and I made buckwheat bread without yeast, gluten, sugar, the kind of bread offered in the German clinic; actually, our recipe proved to be much better. We also made buckwheat crackers and tried some vegetable broth recipes.

Relying on the average income in a provincial city, we figured out organizing affordable healthy meals. Based on a RUB 23 thousand average monthly income in Nelidovo, one of the disadvantaged towns in the Tver region, we launched our first pilot Program for a Healthy Lifestyle Culture and Proper Nutrition. According to our calculation, this kind of meals would cost 150 to 200 rubles. This way we have designed the whole concept of the Petrushka chain to implement the program for a healthy lifestyle culture with all that it entails.

What makes the project unique and what do you believe is its key outcome?

The project has provided free and healthy food to 3 thousand people and gave out more than 700 thousand meals to those in need. The numbers speak for themselves, and we are planning for more. We want to combine charity donations and blockchain to transfer subsidies in our pilot regions into tokens and give access to wallets to all our participants. Among other things, we will make the aware of crypto-currency basics to show them where and how the money for their lunch came from, how they disposed of it and where exactly each charitable ruble went. It is important to make this financial structure transparent and user-friendly, a thing that charity project usually lack. The bonus is an exciting «coin journey» game with lessons and masterclasses from the best players in the crypto market.

What was the most difficult part of the project?

One challenge was to deal with grocery retail about food processing. Today, Russia throws away unsold foods in a non-marketable state but with a valid expiration date since there is no law that allows to market them. So, we have to negotiate with retailers to get such products and make delicious and healthy meals. The global idea is to make Russia the world’s leader in proper nutrition. It is very challenging and implies a lot of work.

Is there any story/case about the project that has made you think you are on the right track?

Yes, I will be happy to tell it. As I have mentioned, we launched the pilot project in Nelidovo in 2018 by issuing social food cards to the project participants. To understand whether or not we were on the right track, we interviewed some of the most active cardholders. The sample included different people, such as parents with many children, mothers of children with special needs, low-income families, people with disabilities… Watching them talk, I felt tears in my eyes. They were so sincerely grateful, so happy that now they can have good and healthy food and participate in free master classes. These interviews have convinced me that we’re on the right track. And we will never stop.

How will you promote the project across the regions, and what kind of support do you plan to provide?

We have successfully launched the pilot project in Nelidovo and we want to spread this local practice to the federal level across Russian regions. To do this, we need a strong team of like-minded people. We will manage the production and processing systems, deal with city administrations and retail chains, and provide information support.

This is hardly a most profitable business (correct me if I’m wrong). How to motivate people in business to follow your path?

Huge profits are not our focus. Otherwise, we would launch in Moscow or St. Petersburg, cities with millions of people. We are interested in making healthy and delicious meals available to anyone in the Russian Federation, making this project effective, and helping people save money on medicine and bad habits. Our followers are people who sincerely want to do something big and important rather than a business for the business’ sake: a project about and for people.

You have posted another project, Eco-Star Hotel Environmental Rating, on ASI’s Smarteka. But, let’s be honest, such projects in Russia are a rare exception rather than the rule. So, how will you change this?

Someone has to be the first to do this. (smiles) Eco Star was Russia’s first environmental rating project to rate hotels and other tourist facilities. Environmental certification is needed to help hoteliers and travelers make «environmentally reasonable» choices, take care of the environment, and promote sustainable development, which has only begun to be seriously discussed in our country.

International hotels have been using environmental certification for several years, but Russia has no available licenses. Meeting international environmental standards is a widely accepted standard in the hotel business. Eco Star will introduce this practice in Russia. The practice will benefit business, tourists, and environment.

The practice is available for distribution across all Russian regions. Businesses can review project documentation, contact the project owners and launch their projects on Smarteka.