annamrita

ISKCON Food Relief Foundation receives IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Award

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Source: Dandavats By Radha Krishna Das ISKCON Food Relief Foundation – Annamrita, an NGO affiliate of Food for Life Global that has been working tirelessly for nearly 13 years to fight classroom hunger and provide the underprivileged school children of India with wholesome nutritious meals has won the prestigious IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality award for the second year in a row. Inspired by Srila Prabhupada – the Founder Acharya of International Society for Krishna Consciousness who was a true visionary and wanted to see a hunger-free world, the motto of Annamrita is to serve “Food as Pure as Nectar” to all. In partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments and inestimable support from many philanthropic donors, corporates and well-wishers; Annamrita has grown from humble beginnings to serving just 900 students in one school, to today serving 1.2 million meals every day of which over 100,000 meals are served in Mumbai itself and nearly 300,000 meals daily in Maharashtra. The work received recognition and commendation through several awards and citations. This decision was preceded by 4 rounds which needed to be cleared; application and interview, then documentation, submissions and finally NGO site visits to the Mira Road and Tardeo kitchens that were both audited by a panel. ISKCON Food Relief Foundation finally won the Certificate of Merit in the NGO category. The Awards ceremony which was held at Y B Chavan Auditorium Mumbai on 16th March 2017 saw a gathering of eminent individuals from various sectors like FMCS, Transport, Finance, Healthcare and Social Work. The event was presided over by the esteemed panel consisting of Mr. Deepak Premnarayan – President IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Niraj Bajaj – Chairman, IMC RBNQ Award Trust, Mr. Suresh Lulla- Chairman IMC RBNQA as well as members of the […]

4 Billion Meals Served

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We did it! Serving 4 billion meals is no easy feat, but today, Food for Life Global’s network of 210 affiliates in 60 countries quietly served out the 4 billionth meal. To put that in perspective that is two meals for every child in the world. Starting as a grassroots operation in the fields of Mayapur, West Bengal, inspired by the words of a simple India Swami, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, that “no one within ten miles of our temple should go hungry,” the project gradually expanded around the world to now include award-winning mega kitchens in India that churn out up to 70,000 meals a day! Food for Life Global’s network of affiliates may not get the recognition of other charities like the Red Cross, but it is made up of the most dedicated volunteers on the planet — day in day out – cooking enormous quantities of nutritious plant-based food to satisfy the needs of millions. “Our mission is to unite the world through pure food,” explains Paul Rodney Turner, Co-founder and director of Food for Life Global that was established in 1995. “Through our indiscriminate distribution of plant-based meals we are directly addressing the root cause of hunger and all forms of social injustice, by communicating to our recipients that we love and respect them as our brother or sister.” “By only using plant-based ingredients we are extending this same love and respect to all sentient beings, ” he said. “Every year, more than 56 million animals are killed for food and this is just unacceptable.” Food for Life Global’s spiritual solution to world hunger is not only bolstered by its tremendous ability to cook and serve more food than any other non-profit in the world, but it is also a partner in establishing the Food Surplus Hub […]

What good is a $1 donation? More than you can imagine

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I have been running charities since 1989 when I registered by my first non-profit in Australia, called Hare Krishna Food for Life Hunter Valley. Back then I was a monk and while full of enthusiasm, I had much to learn when it came to donor relations. You can’t just expect people to give without asking them and most people will if you ask them the right way at the right time. However, something odd has been happening over the last 10 years that has tremendously impacted the non-profit sector — donor fatigue. Interest in supporting poverty, hunger and animal welfare have significantly declined over the last decade according to Google Trends. Maybe it’s because there are so many good causes in need these days, and many people find it hard to choose what one is better than the other. Added to this avalanche of good causes you also have an unstable US dollar, an estimated 48 million US citizens on food stamps, an increase in military activity with talk of marshal law, it is no wonder that people are shy to hand over their hard-earned dollars. They have other things on their minds, closer to home. The gap in income between rich and poor is greater in the United States than in any other developed country. Starting in the 1980s rates have consistently exceeded those of other wealthy nations. Half of the U.S. population lives in poverty or is low-income, according to U.S. census data. According to a survey by the Associated Press, four out of five U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives. I can fully empathize with this. With pessimism soaring off the charts, and money so scarce, many people are probably wondering what good will their small donation do in the […]

Food for Life Global Moves headquarters to Green City Capital, Ljubljana

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Food for Life Global has officially moved its headquarters to the green city capital of Ljubljana, Slovenia and this is the story behind the move. Background Food for Life Global was established in the United States as a registered non-profit in the state of Maryland in 1995. The charity’s initial objective was to simply serve as a communications office for Hare Krishna Food for Life projects around the world and to provide training and guidance. “Back then, Food for Life was a small player in the world of food relief,” explained Paul Rodney Turner, director of the organization. “We had some projects in India, USA, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and most Western European countries, but Eastern Europe was just getting started. The programs were all rather small, and I think our capacity back then was around 60,000 meals a day.” Today the network of affiliates expands the globe and now includes projects all over Asia, the former soviet union and many parts of Africa and South and Central America. “We are pretty much everywhere these days, although some projects are very small in comparison to our larger and more sophisticated projects in India, where it all started,” he said. Food for Life Global’s principal affiliate in India is The ISKCON Food Relief Foundation that is a separately registered non-profit organization from the Hare Krishna movement in India. Their Food for Life Annamrita project now feeds over 1.3 million school children daily and it is constantly expanding. Other projects around the world serve many hundreds of thousands of meals daily, substantiating Food for Life Global’s claims that the international network serves around 2 million meals daily! How the Mission Evolved Over the years, the mission of the organization expanded to include, fundraising and emergency coordination, and, more importantly, to promote […]

Latest video from Food for Life Annamrita

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Food for Life Annamrita project, founded by ISKCON Food Relief Foundation is having a major impact on child malnutrition in India and directly improving the academic status of millions of school children throughout India. To learn more about this amazing project, visit: www.annamrita.org

New Food for Life Documentary released – Uniting the World Through Pure Food

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The world’s largest plant-based food relief has a unique mission — the solution for world peace. This new documentary features some of the primary feeding programs the charity has around the world, including the Food for Life Annamrita midday meal project that feeds school children across India. Currently, Food for Life Global affiliates serve up to 2 million meals daily with projects in over 50 countries. The documentary follows Food for Life director Paul Rodney Turner around the world, including India, Fiji, Hungary, and New Zealand as he shares the unique mission of Food for Life through its outreach work. Uniting the World Through Pure Food Run time: 26:45 Created by Paul Rodney Turner To learn more about Annamrita featured in this video visit: http://www.annamrita.org See us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/foodforlifeglobal

FFL Annamrita’s food dispatch process is something to admire

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FFLAmnamritaDISPATCH-600

Everyday, 258 cooks prepare wholesome meals in 20 Annamrita kitchens and 301 vehicles carry hope and promise to over a million children in 6288 schools across India. After the raw materials have been procured, the rice cleaned and the cooking completed, the next challenge is the dispatch process. How to get so many meals out to the children as fast and efficiently as we can? The day before, all the containers have been air dried after washing and then sanitized; this ensures that they are 100% clean when filled with highly nutritious hot food. Once the food is ready, it is tasted and observations for temperature, colour, appearance, flavour, consistency and taste are documented. After the documented parameters are found to be acceptable, the containers are passed on the conveyor below the cauldrons. The outlet valve at the bottom of the cauldron is opened and the container is filled with the food. Once filled up to the pre-measured level, the containers are pushed on the conveyor and the next container is filled. In this entire process, food is untouched by hand. This ensures maintenance of high standards of hygiene and sanitation. Next, the filled containers are sealed with security seals to avoid tampering. The security seal is of paramount importance and the schools have been instructed to not accept the containers if the seal is broken. Each container has a specific colour coded security seal (which indicates the variety and quantity of food) to help easily identify during delivery.  Samples of all the food cooked for the day are taken out and their temperature is measured 3 hours after the dispatch to coincide with the school lunch break timings. In this way we can ensure that the food is still at a safe temperature when the children eat their lunch.  After washing and sanitizing the serving spoons, they […]

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