H a r e K r i s h n a
Food for Life
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An essential part of the Vedic tradition is feeding people. Srila Prabhupada officially began the program of charitable food distribution in 1973 when in India he saw village children fighting with street dogs for food scraps. This prompted him to give the order that, "God is the father, wherever there the father, there cannot be hunger.No one within a ten mile radius of a Hare Krishna temple should go hungry. "
In the long run, education is the key to solving the problem of hunger. It empowers an individual to work with society to fulfill one's needs and aspirations. Hence few educated people go hungry. Yet, hunger is a stumbling block for education for poor children and locks them into a vicious cycle: hunger and poverty obstructs education as they are forced to drop out of school and take up menial jobs. Lack of education curtails opportunities for development. Since they are not able to develop themselves, they remain hungry and poor. The Mid-day meal program aims to liberate them from this vicious cycle. |
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Hunger obstructs education in yet another way by affecting clear thinking and productive working in children. Dr J. Larry Brown, Tufts University, has most succinctly described this:
"By subjecting children to hunger, we rob them of their God-given potential. We then deliver them to the schools with one arm tied behind their backs and expect teachers to perform an often-impossible task. This, in turn, results in the waste of billions of dollars we invest in the education of our children because hunger prevents them from getting full value of their educational experience.
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Medical science has proven that most of the cognitive developments occur in the age group of 6 and 12 years. Hunger and malnutrition during these years impairs cognitive developments, thus permanently crippling an individual for life. Over six million children in India develop mild mental retardation due to malnutrition, which can be prevented.
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"Food for Life" Established by Srila Prabhupada in 1972, who stated that "No one within 10 miles of a centre should go hungry", Hare Krishna 'Food for Life' provides relief to suffering on a worldwide scale.
It is currently the world's largest vegetarian food-relief operation, being active in over 60 countries across the globe. 'Food for Life' serves only Krishna 'prasadam' (purely vegetarian foodstuffs, spiritualised by offering to the Lord) which, having been offered to Krishna, gain a unique flavour which satisfies the palate and nourishes the body - as well as purifying the soul, giving eternal spiritual benefit beyond an ordinary food relief operation.
'Food for Life' serve meals daily in cities across the world, and also have provided relief in many emergency situations such as earthquakes in Armenia and India, the war-zones of Grozny and Sarajevo, floods in West Bengal, and tornadoes in Yamunanagar
The problem of starvation isn't one of nature's supply, but one of fair distribution of foodstuffs and land usage. The meat industry constitute a large part of the problem, as meat takes 12 times more resources to produce than a vegetarian based diet. Land which otherwise could be utilised for producing grains, is destroyed with cattle ranches to cater to today's fast-food outlets, which in turn cause health and environment problems. The slaughter of animals and destruction of environments produces reactions which society is suffering from, but 'Food for Life' provides a spiritual solution alleviating karmic reactions, a healthier and more practical diet
Food for Life currently operates from a mobile food van, which visits YmunaNagar station , Bus stands and other patrs of the towon
