Every school morning, kitchens across India cook a hot plant-based meal for children in government and municipal schools. That work is done by Annamrita, one of Food Yoga International’s affiliated projects.
Annamrita means food as pure as nectar. On its website, Annamrita says its automated kitchens cook wholesome meals for more than 1.2 million children across India every school day. The meals are part of India’s mid-day meal programme, prepared in partnership with central and state governments.
A lunch like this is meant to do more than fill a plate. Annamrita says that when hunger is addressed at school, attendance improves, children can focus in class, and more of them stay enrolled. That is a practical idea, and it sits at the center of food relief: a child who has eaten is in a better place to learn.
The cooking is built for both care and volume. Annamrita describes food cooked in large stainless steel cauldrons, then sealed in containers and carried in insulated vans so the meal is still hot, above 65°C, when the school lunch bell rings. It operates more than 20 mega kitchens, certified to the ISO 22000 food safety standard, and works with more than 3,133 partner schools across seven Indian states. The national headquarters is in Mumbai and has been running since 2004.
Annamrita also cooks for children at non-aided schools that do not receive the government grain subsidy. On its site, it puts that part of the work at more than 85,000 meals each day. The larger mid-day meal programme remains the core of what it does: a hot lunch, in school, for more than 1.2 million children.
Food Yoga International is the headquarters of this wider network, and Annamrita is one of the affiliated projects in that family. We let Annamrita’s own figures speak for the school meals themselves.
Food Yoga International, formerly known as Food for Life Global, has served 9+ billion meals in 63 countries. Some of that work is emergency relief after a flood, a fire, or an earthquake. Some of it is a regular meal, cooked and delivered day after day, the way Annamrita does for schoolchildren. The setting changes from place to place. The aim stays the same: a freshly prepared plant-based meal, cooked with care, offered to someone who needs it.
On our website there is a photograph from one of these school meals in India. Children sit along a corridor with plates on the floor, and I am serving food from a pot that is still warm. That is the work at ground level. Lunch arrives, the children eat, and the school day can go on.
Giving Tuesday is on December 1 this year. It is one day on the calendar, and the meals go out every school morning whether or not that day is marked. If you would like to help Food Yoga International keep supporting this network, you can give here.
A gift of any size is received with gratitude.
