Our Feeding Initiatives

The United Nations defines hunger as the periods when people experience severe food insecurity due to lack of money, access to food, or other resources. There are various causes of hunger like inaccessibility to food, natural disasters, economic inequalities and wars. It leads to various mental and psychological illness apart from physical issues like malnutrition, deficiencies and extreme fatigue.

According to the Global Hunger Index, hunger is at an alarming level of severity in 43 countries across the world. Our initiative Global Food For Hunger Inc. aims to contribute to alleviation of hunger by providing extensive food assistance in these regions.

We have been addressing the different types of hunger through various feeding programmes.

1) Classroom Hunger or Child Malnutrition:

Akshaya Patra is the implementing partner of the Government of India’s flagship PM POSHAN initiative (formerly the Mid-Day Meal Scheme) to address the overarching issues of classroom hunger and malnutrition in India. It is our firm belief that investing in child nutrition and education is one of the most effective imperatives for human development. With the vision that no child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger, we are contributing to alleviating classroom hunger by providing children with fresh, nutritious and tasty school lunches by leveraging technology and philanthropy.

Akshaya Patra has been lauded as the most admired public-private partnership in the development sector by bringing together various stakeholders to address classroom hunger and malnutrition. Akshaya Patra’s scalability can be attributed to the extensive network of structured kitchen units it has built across the country over the years. These units enable large-scale feeding with a focus on safe handling, preparation and delivery of the food. Their scale and operational efficiency play a crucial role in maximising the impact of the programme and contributing to UN SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 4 (Quality Education) directly.

Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings to become the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) school lunch programme. We recently commemorated the milestone of serving 4 billion meals at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Currently, we serve over 2.2 million children across 72 locations in 16 states and 2 union territories of India.

We inaugurated our first international kitchen in London in United Kingdom. Our work in the UK is focused on providing nutrition to children through three core education-linked programmes.

• Hot meals and Homework: This programme is designed to reduce the levels of inequality children experience with their homework while simultaneously supporting their levels of nutrition. We work with schools to organise after-school clubs, at which we provide healthy meals as a powerful incentive for children to stay behind after the formal school day has ended.
• Halting Holiday Hunger: Holidays for many children is a time to enjoy with family, eat healthy, travel, and get oneself recharged for the new term of school. Unfortunately, for 3 million children in the UK, it turns out to become hungry holidays instead of happy holidays. They lack access to free school meals, which they receive in school during their term. Halting Holiday Hunger programme is aimed at alleviating the significant burden on poorer families of providing meals to their children during holidays.
• Happiness Boxes: When the world was faced with pandemic lockdowns, we were determined to continue supporting children with good nutrition and educational support, despite the fact the doors of schools and other community institutions were shut. We introduced Happiness Boxes containing a selection of dry grocery items (such as rice, beans, vegetables and oil) which enable healthy food choices and can cook up to ten nutritious meals for a growing child. We continue to provide these kits even today, as an additional source of joy and support to disadvantaged children and their families.

c. Breakfast and Hot Milk initiatives

Apart from the mid-day meal programme, we have also been providing breakfast and hot milk to children in India. A tasty and nutritious breakfast is essential for children since it provides them with the necessary energy to commence their daily activities and also contributes to improved concentration. Studies have shown that children who consume the morning meal every day are more physically active and have overall healthy eating habits. Taking into consideration the role that a healthy and regular breakfast plays in the growth and development of a child, we launched the breakfast programme to complement the school lunch programme.

While the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme is an effective intervention to address hunger and malnutrition, the breakfast programme can significantly help address short-term hunger among school children and aid in improving their concentration levels. Most of the beneficiary children hail from economically disadvantaged families where parents leave for work in the early hours of the day, leaving the task of preparing a morning meal unfeasible.

In such a situation, a nutritious breakfast to begin the day at the school helps address hunger among children and boosts their learning outcomes by improving their concentration level. We also serve a glass of hot milk every morning to ensure children’s physical and cognitive development.

d. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) or Anganwadi feeding initiative

Apart from the mid-day meal programme, we have also been providing breakfast and hot milk to children in India. A tasty and nutritious breakfast is essential for children since it provides them with the necessary energy to commence their daily activities and also contributes to improved concentration. Studies have shown that children who consume the morning meal every day are more physically active and have overall healthy eating habits. Taking into consideration the role that a healthy and regular breakfast plays in the growth and development of a child, we launched the breakfast programme to complement the school lunch programme. 

While the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme is an effective intervention to address hunger and malnutrition, the breakfast programme can significantly help address short-term hunger among school children and aid in improving their concentration levels. Most of the beneficiary children hail from economically disadvantaged families where parents leave for work in the early hours of the day, leaving the task of preparing a morning meal unfeasible. 

In such a situation, a nutritious breakfast to begin the day at the school helps address hunger among children and boosts their learning outcomes by improving their concentration level. We also serve a glass of hot milk every morning to ensure children’s physical and cognitive development.

Community Feeding

Distribution of food is the greatest of all deeds, and we believe in the philosophy of providing abundant food for all.

There are many economically disadvantaged families who cannot afford fresh, nutritious meals even once a day. We have undertaken a mass feeding program to serve children, elderly widows, patients and other needy people who generally do not have a fixed accommodation and our feeding programme has become a primary source of their sustenance.

The food is delivered at the right time every day to the locations of the beneficiaries who eagerly look forward to our meals. We have been striving to ensure that everyone in these regions is fed sumptuously with fresh, hot and nutritious food. Thus, our community feeding programme provides regular access to food, increases nutrition security and improves the quality of life of such vulnerable people.

Food relief during the Ukraine-Russia conflict

We supported the preparation and distribution of hot meals for people crossing the border between Poland and Ukraine. 5.8 tonnes of food were sent to the makeshift kitchen set up by Food for All at Medkya, a village in Przemysl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, South-East Poland. In addition to sending food and ingredients, we dispatched our own team as part of a convoy to Western Poland taking another two tonnes of food and ingredients to be utilised in Wrocław, where many more displaced people were arriving.

Food relief during Nepal earthquake

A major earthquake which hit Nepal in 2015 claimed over 9000 lives, affecting 8 million people, and deeming 3 million homeless. Akshaya Patra sprang into action by immediately airlifting 200,000 meals and setting up a temporary kitchen and serving 15,000 meals for over 6 months serving in the areas of Bhaktapur in Bhelukhel, Maheswari, Jella, Garun Kund, Kamal Binayak, Thulo Bayasee, Bayasee, Bode, Thali, Gokarneswar, and Bhugmati.

Food relief during Turkey Earthquake

We sent a delegation with essential groceries of over 100 tonnes and a few medical and electrical equipment, which are critical during any crisis.

Emergency Feeding

Disasters and natural calamities like floods, earthquakes are unpredictable. As we are aware, economically disadvantaged families have no proper access to the basic necessities of life. Their conditions worsen these households when they are confronted by calamitous situations. 

We have been utilising our infrastructure and resources to undertake emergency food assistance in the event of natural disasters to provide food and nutrition support to people and ensure their health in India and abroad. Over the years, we have enhanced our execution capabilities for humanitarian efforts during disasters through need-based approaches. These include the provision of freshly cooked food and the distribution of groceries and hygiene kits. Recently we served the people of Wayanad and Vijayawada affected by floods and landslides.

COVID -19 food relief efforts

Our organisation proactively volunteered to mobilise resources and provide freshly cooked meals and grocery kits to distressed families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our beneficiaries included industrial labourers, street-side vendors and individuals at old-age homes and orphanages. We also provided wholesome meals to hospital staff and police personnel who were tirelessly working for the safety of people. We served over 250 million meals during the pandemic in India.

Nourish to Flourish

Through our Nourish to Flourish initiative, we have served over hot and nutritious meals to homeless people across London.

Kitchen on Wheels

We have planned to run our Kitchen on Wheels, a unique solution to serve fresh, hot meals to our beneficiaries at various locations through customized technology-enabled mobile kitchens.

Food Assistance in Government Hospitals

People from economically disadvantaged households visit government hospitals to avail affordable healthcare. The attendants of the patients have to spend most of the day in the hospital premises and have limited accessibility to hygienic food at reasonable price. 

To mitigate the suffering of these distressed people, we are serving free, hygienic and nutritious meals through our feeding programmes. The food is packed and transported immediately to feeding venues, ensuring a minimum time gap between cooking and consumption. This intervention helps them to stay healthy and save their limited resources for medicines and treatment.

Millet-based Meals and Fortification of Ingredients

We have introduced millet-based meals as part of our mid-day meal initiative to provide additional nutrition to children. The raw materials used in the meals comply with standards such as FSSAI and Agmark. Essential ingredients are fortified to improve nutritional quality and prevent malnutrition among children.

Free meals to University Students

Most of the students studying in colleges and universities are unable to afford food from restaurants or other avenues due to their high educational expenses and liabilities. We have been providing free meals to these students on their potentially reducing their additional costs.

Apart from feeding programmes, we have other intiatives that help students in their education and career.

Digital Education – An attempt to bridge the digital divide and further digital inclusiveness by providing students belonging to economically weaker sections of society access to good quality, modern education free of cost.

Scholarship Programme – The initiative identifies deserving government school and college students from the underserved sections of society and helps them source scholarships so that they can pursue further education.

School Rejuvenation Programme – Based on the Government’s Model School initiative, this endeavour aims to provide a conducive environment for children through a series of infrastructural and academic interventions.

Giving Every Dream A Chance – We also initiated a unique project called ‘Giving Every Dream A Chance’ to help talented students explore their full potential and excel in various domains. These students are mentored by experts in their fields of interest and passion.