The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was founded on October 16, 1945 and to honour this day World Food Day is observed every year around the world.

Every year a theme is set to celebrate the day, and the World Food Day theme for 2013 is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.”

Most of the themes are concerned with agriculture and encouragement to invest in education and health because the improvement of these three areas will result in the overall development of the country.

India is in a state of urgency to eradicate hunger, poverty and illiteracy. Proving food to children as an incentive to enroll and attend school poses as a solution for all three of these issues plaguing our country. When children receive wholesome, tasty meals in school they will not have to resort to child labour to earn money for food. They stay in school, and a satiated appetite allows them to focus on their academics and eventually complete school and be prepared for mainstream society.

Since its inception in 2000, the Akshaya Patra Foundation has strived to improve the state of food security and literacy for children in the country. The organization provides mid-day meals to over 1.3 million children in India every day. The food prepared in its centralized and decentralized kitchen is delivered to 1,0050 schools in nine states.

This programme aims at not only eradicating hunger and illiteracy but also significantly improving child nutrition. According to the Global Hunger Index, in India 43.5 per cent of children under the age of five are underweight. Akshaya Patra ensures the use of healthy ingredients in the mid-day meals that satisfy all the dietary requirements for growing children.

It is our collective responsibility to do all we can to ensure that education and food is readily available to all children of India. It is our duty as more fortunate citizens of society to help those who rely on us. Together we can build a better India.  Donate today!

Akshaya Patra – Unlimited Food For Education

It was 6 o’clock in the morning on a warm, beautiful day when I was whisked off to Hare Krishna Hill in Bangalore, India. In the distance the silhouette of the ISKON temple was distinctly outlined against the morning sky. After a short drive up the hill, we arrived at a collection of large buildings with the aromatic smell of food drifting in the air. I am Shubha Jagannath, 14 years of age, born and brought up in San Jose, California. I came to HK Hill to visit the renowned Akshaya Patra Foundation, a massive force that feeds 1.3 million needy children across India every day. I had heard about this organisation through my family and was intrigued about how they accomplish this herculean task so efficiently. I got the wonderful opportunity to visit the kitchen from a relative and couldn’t wait to see how they carried out such a massive operation.

The Kitchen

Soon as I entered the kitchen I was surrounded by an amazing sight. Sparkling metal containers were filled to the brim with steaming Bisi Bele Bhaat and vegetables. Men in bright blue hair nets tirelessly ran around adding vegetables and stirring the food. We were introduced to Mr Kunjabihari who offered to show us around. Astounding 1 lakh children are fed daily from that single kitchen. The employees were working from midnight to complete the task of cooking and delivering food in time for so many schools while the rest of us were asleep. The dedication and work-ethic of those who are working in the kitchen is really inspiring.

As Mr. Kunjabihari continued to show us around, we found that the kitchen was not only a place with marvelous people, but also a place with many technological marvels. Innovations were made to make the food faster and more hygienic. Roti making machines, vegetable cutters powered by BMW motors, and steam-powered cooking were a few of the many amazing equipment there. The kitchen was in the most hygienic condition possible. Workers constantly cleaned the containers and Mr. Kunjabihari later told us that until this day they haven’t gotten even a single complaint about a hair in the food! This is quite fantastic for a problem that occurs so often in our own kitchens. The quality of the food was another wonder. Mr. Kunjabihari explained how each ingredient was thoroughly tested before being used in the meal, and how each food sample was also tested to insure that harmful materials are absent.

As it got closer to delivery time, the mouth-watering Bisi Bele Bhaat and sweet were packed into sterilized steamed containers and loaded in the colourful Akshaya Patra vans. The vans are equipped with gadgets like tracking devices and sensors to ensure that the doors are closed properly and so that the food reaches the schools safely. And after being loaded, the vans swiftly drove off to deliver to the eagerly waiting children.

(To know about Shubha’s school visit, click here)