Posts tagged hunger relief
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
ISKCON Food Relief – simply the best in quality and quantity
Jul 1st
Food for Life Global affiliate, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation has set the standard for quality nutritious lunches for school children. The organisation continues to expand its popular lunch service all throughout India. The fact that the non-profit can maintain such a high standard of quality, while serving over 250,000 meals daily is astonishing to say the least.
ISKCON State of the art kitchen
THE SETTING
Hunger and illiteracy are two of India’s most widespread and pressing problems. Although public schooling is offered free of cost to children aged 6–14, poverty bars the underprivileged from taking advantage. Typically hailing from slums and tribal areas, such children must either go hungry at school or resort to begging and child labor.
In 2004, the Government of Maharashtra appointed Midday Meal to provide nutritional support for primary school children. The initiative aims to break the hunger cycle by providing impoverished families the incentive to keep their children in school—and off the streets. Midday Meal is a non-profit strategic program run for the benefit of all hungry students without consideration of caste, religion, or gender. For most children, it is their only complete meal of the day.
ISKCON Midday Meal Trucks
THE IMPACT
Numerous studies have demonstrated that there is a direct correlation between these lunch programs and increased student enrollment, attendance, attention spans, and exam scores. Other benefits include reductions in skin infection, anemia, and marked improvements in body mass index.
STATE OF THE ART PROCESS
Midday Meal’s four ISO-certified, custom-built kitchens mass-produce meals which are hygienic, nutritious, tasty, and cost-effective. To feed one student costs only ten cents per day, or $20.35 per school year.
Midday Meal’s logistical infrastructure is a marvel of engineering ingenuity. Its unique solutions include:
- automated conveyor belt
- steam-jacketed cauldrons (660 lb. capacity)
- tamper-proof stainless steel containers
- computerized recipes
- flight-kitchen grade ventilation and drainage
- rack-fitted delivery vehicles
4 kitchens + 55 cooks + 69 vans + 1225 schools + 4500 miles = 250,000 smiles
“Meals for 24,000 children can be prepared, in two shifts per day, by only five persons. The kitchen was so spotlessly clean that I wondered if it was yet to become operational.”
—Sudheendra Kulkarni
(The Economic Times, Mumbai)
Happy children enjoying their free lunch
CONTACT
Director
ISKCON Food Relief Foundation
7 K. M. Munshi Marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007
Mobile 98210 55520. Tel 2366 5500
rkd@middaymeal.com
Flood Survivors Scramble for Meals
Oct 2nd
October 2 — Food for Life Global affiliate, SKBP team visited the Hyderabad district and set up an outdoor kitchen at one of the many refugee camps. Relief Spokesperson, Vanamali das said, “We made many types of vegan meals, including basmati rice, vegetable curry and biryani, and served 500 to 600 woman and children. Our main challenge at this time is a reliable vehicle to transport the meals and supplies. We are urgently appealing to Food for Life Donors to continue supporting our efforts and specifically to help us obtain a reliable van or truck.” Please continue supporting this effort.
Photos of relief in Hyderabad / PAKISTAN FFL SITE
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SKBP starts relief services
Aug 20th
September 26 – Food for Life affiliate SKBP sent a team to Thatta and Makli to provide meals to flood survivors. The team noticed that the areas around Thatta and Makli already contained many Relief Camps where Flood victims were receiving food, cloths and water from numerous NGOs. After further investigation, however, the FFL teams were able to identify areas where relief services were not reaching survivors and so they focused their attention on these underserved places. Hot potato biryani is currently being served to at least 150 families, many of whom came from Sajawal.
Relief spokesperson, Vanamali das, commented: “The next morning the SKBP team went to another area of Makl. The land had dried and so the villagers immediately came to us when they saw our relief team.”
The FFL cooks began preparing the meals while many of the local Makli people assisted. Because gas is not available the meals had to cooked in the open air on fire wood.
“The meals were very well received as the villages smiled and praised the cooks and called out to their friends to join,” explained Das.
After providing meals in Thatta and Makli the SKBP team returned to Karachi to make plans to visit Hyderabad where there was an overwhelming number of refugees now living in relief camps.
Photos of relief in Makli and Thata
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