Posts tagged Food for Life
Mid-day meals nourish 1.2m underprivileged children
30 April 2012
Government of India’s flagship project, ‘Mid-day meals’ continues to nourish more and more underprivileged children, now benefiting approximately 12,00,000 children in India. This is in view of a recent ‘Hunger and Malnutrition’ survey that puts the number of malnourished children in the country at 42 per cent.
Mumbai: Mid-day meal is a strategic program to liberate the underprivileged children from scourge of hunger and malnutrition, this program is a project of the Government of India, and is being implemented by ISKCON Food Relief Foundation under the brand name of ANNAMRITA in selected schools in Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Assam.
ISKCON Food Relief Foundation is a non-profit, non-religious, non-sectarian charitable trust. This project is being implemented in Government aided, and municipal schools for the benefit of underprivileged children. It is done without any commercial motive and the benefits are available to students at large without any discrimination on grounds of religion, caste, creed or sex.
Since the launch in 2004, state-of-the-art kitchens in the above mentioned states have been set up. As of now, the scheme caters approximately 12,00,000 children every day from our centres in Mira Bhayander, Palghar, Nigdi, Tardeo, Juhu, Wada, Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Tirupati, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Kadapa, Ranga Nara Gadda, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guwahati, Panipat, Haridwar, Jamshedpur and Ujjain.
Most of these children come from slums and tribal areas. The purpose of implementing this scheme is to facilitate the Government in increasing the enrollment in these schools, reducing the drop out rate, and improving the attendance. Also as these are the formative years for the future adult, therefore nutrition is of prime importance.
Corporate bodies such as Accenture, Piramal Group, Reliance Industries, Sterlite, Apar Industries, Mafatlal Industries, Yash Birla Group, Glaxo Smith Kline, DSP Merill Lynch, JSW Group, Godrej, HDFC, Raymonds have been kind enough to support the program with their benevolence. Individuals such as Mr. Alfred Ford of the Ford Motor Company, Late Shri Sunil Dutt, Smt. Indu Jain have given their unstinted support to bring the program to the present level.
With a generous contribution, for the cause of the underprivileged children in India, ISKON foundation hopes to maximise the capacity of this program by setting up more kitchens to cater to more schools and increase the number of beneficiaries many folds.
The professionally managed Mid-day meal program has trained cooks, who use the most advanced technology in cooking under hygienic conditions using fresh and pure ingredients.
The meals are packed and sealed in specially designed stainless steel containers and are transported in vehicles most suited for the logistics. Cooked in the most cost-effective manner, the nutritious, sumptuous and sanctified meal consists of different menus such as khichadi (a mix of rice, dal and vegetables, cooked in pure ghee with spices and tomatoes), Chapati, Subji, Rice Sambar, etc according to local tastes.
Foundation caters to over 2,75,000 children in Maharashtra daily .
The cost of providing food for 1 child for 1 entire year is just Rs 900
Recently ISKCON Food Relief Foundation participated in the first ever Lifebuoy National Child Health Symposium and Awards. Out of the hundreds of entries received ISKCON Food Relief Foundation was awarded as a leading organisation in the sphere of child health with an outstanding contribution in the area of nutrition.
SOURCE: ONEWORLD South Asia
FFL in Ecuador
Mar 5th
FFL Ecuador team serving pure food
January 2012 – Winter season came to Ecuador bringing torrential rains and suffocating waves of heat. However, the radical weather patterns were not enough to deter the FFL volunteers from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Taking time out from their busy family lives and business, the volunteers consistently devote time to the service others.
Over 500 people were waiting in the town of El Consuelo to experience the prasadam from Food for Life. The journey there from the FFL kitchen in Guayaquil takes almost two hours. Nonetheless, the volunteers enjoyed the spectacular scenery, watching the dramatic landscapes unfold before them, bedecked with flowers of all colors and lush green vegetation responding to the winter rainfalls. The journey took a little longer than anticipated and so some of the families went home. However, the FFL team immediately went to community leaders to announce from house to house of their arrival. Making use of the bells of a beautiful church, a large crowd once again gathered for lunch! Buckets of delicious vegan rice and lentil stew, pastries and herbal teas were being passed children and adults. The smiles and words of praise kept coming and mental images will last in our memory forever.
The following week, hundreds of others were the beneficiaries of a traditional vegan rice and lentil stew, fried sweets, and aromatic teas, prepared just hours before by a group of enthusiastic FFL volunteers.
Many members of the community and of other organisations join the FFL Ecuador team each week for the experience of distributing free vegan lunches. Some weeks, due to budget constraints, the FFL Ecuador team is only able to feed 300 people, but the joy of helping even a few people with a warm plate of food prepared with love is amazing! Our small gesture of kindness, melts the hearts of everyone and soon their love comes back to use in the form of hugs, laughter and finally running after our car as we try to leave!
Recently, the Addictions Rehabilitation Centre (ACE prison) was chosen as the place to serve our vegan meals. With the help of volunteer Jimmy Cassinelli, we were welcomed by the authorities and inmates of the place. This time, FFL cooks made a special menu of delicious fried rice with an equally rich chili sauce and aromatic drinks. At least 50 inmates enjoyed the experience of pure food made with love.
Information for this report and photos provided by Gopi Gandharvica
FFL Volunteers
To learn more about FFL in Ecuador, see their blog
Food Yoga Workshop
Oct 19th
Yogi Priya preparing a raw soup
Australian born, Paul Turner (aka Yogi Priya), director of Food for Life Global is currently on a tour presenting FOOD YOGI workshops. The 1 – 3 day workshops present the philosophy of Food for Life as it relates to food choices, lifestyle, respect for nature and spirituality.
The presentation is based on notes from Yogi Priya’s yet to be published book, The YOGA of EATING – a 300 page manifesto of the Food Yogi lifestyle with a specific emphasis on introducing a Food Offering Meditation.
The idea behind the book was inspired by the founder of ISKCON, Swami Prabhupada, who said that “everyone should get a chance to take prasadam…” He believed strongly that through the liberal distribution of prasadam the whole world could become peaceful and prosperous.”
Prasadam is a Sanskrit word that means mercy, and specifically refers to food that has been prepared with loving intention and then offered in love to God. The meaning of Swami Prabhupada’s statement is that clean, non-violent foods that are prepared with loving intention have the ability to unite people in a loving bond. We’ve all had experience of this when we’ve sat down to a meal prepared with love on festive days.
Because food is the most basic necessity of life it behooves us to honor the blessing of having food on our table, and even more importantly making sure that everyone else has food as well. This can only happen when we genuinely feel compassion and respect for all living beings and it is this universal respect that is fundamental to a Food Yogi lifestyle.
The purpose of the Food Yogi course is to introduce students to the culture of spiritual hospitality and the importance of food on their spiritual journey. Students learn how to achieve optimum health by practicing the Food Yogi diet and lifestyle, which includes, what to eat, when to eat, water therapy, a food offering meditation, conscious eating and raw food demonstrations.
The Food Yoga workshop covers a variety of subjects, including:
- Metaphysics of food
- Sacred Foods and Alchemy
- Sacred Geometry of Food
- The importance of water
- Food Politics
- Spiritual Hospitality
- The 10 Characteristics of a Food Yogi
- Food Offering Meditation
- Conscious Eating
| Time |
Sunday, October 30 · 9:30am - 3:30pm
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| Location |
Witchie Woo Wellness B & B
10 Eighth ave Woorim, Bribie Island. Australia |
SACRED YANTRA Workshop
On the same afternoon, Yogi Priya is giving a workshop on sacred yantras. Yogi Priya has studied the ancient schools of Vedic numerology and Pythagorean systems for over 28 years and now use these two systems to not only provide a complete reading for people, but also capture their unique number vibrations inside a geometric signature or personal yantra that can be used as a talisman or company logo.
COST
Donations? $50 each session or $85 for both (lunch provided)
For more information and to book your place:
Contact your host Craig on
Phone: 07 34081577
Mobile: 0488442283
Email: charmer8888@bigpond.com
Food for Life in Vrindavan
Sep 14th
Saving the lives of children every day
India has the largest number of poor children in Asia, with 80% of its 400 million youth severely deprived. In India, 60% of all children are classed as absolutely poor. Almost half of all children under the age of 5 are malnourished. Even as India continues to record impressive growth rates, poverty remains widespread and disparities deeply entrenched. The country is ranked 119th as per the 2010 Global Human Development Report, and according to the new poverty estimates, 37.2% of the national population and 41.8% of the rural population lives below the poverty line, states a report from the United Nations Development Programme for India.
India’s Poverty Profile: At a Glance
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37% of the population lives below the national poverty line.
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41.8% of the rural population lives below the poverty line.
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80% of the rural poor belong to the marginalised caste and tribal communities. More than 90% of the overall workforce is employed in the informal economy
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96% of the women work in the informal economy
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254 women per 100,000 births die due to maternity-related causes
One non-governmental organisation is striving to do something about this disparity. Since 1990, Food for Life Vrindavan (an affiliate of Food for Life Global) has served over 5 million healthy vegetarian meals to the poorest children in India, along with a variety of other services including, free medical care from their own hospital, social development, vocational training, adult education, social entrepreneurship, women empowerment, legal assistance, martial arts, classical dance training for girls, tree planting, water well creation, and full educational services up to year 12 for over 1500 children at their four Sandipani Muni schools for the poor. HOW TO HELP
Food for Life in Ecuador
Aug 24th
Food for Life volunteers have served hot vegetarian meals to school children and impoverished families for over 20 years in this South American country.
Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border with Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland.
Recently, the FFL team visited some villages in Ecuador, where eager people waited patiently under tents to protect themselves from the blazing sun. As soon as the FFL van arrived, an announcement of their arrival went out over the public speaker system. The local neighbourhood church groups wearing yellow shirts, similar to FFL volunteers, began organising the gathering crowds and helping to set up distribution.
While working under the hot tents, FFL volunteers perspired heavily serving the delicious lunch. However, “The satisfaction was reflected on the faces of everyone,” explains, volunteer Ekatma Das. ”The people were so touched that we had gone out of our way to come to them with such delicious food. One lady told me, ‘We thought that no one cared anymore. Now we know differently. Thank you so much.’”
Food for Life served hot rice with dhal, fried sweet dumplings and an aromatic vegetable curry.
Ecuador Food for Life web site blog
(Photos: Gabriela)
