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Food for Life
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Television Broadcasts Limited drama, see Yummy Yummy - Food For Life
Food for Life is the world's largest vegan and vegetarian non-profit food relief organization. It conducts projects in over 50 countries and has been lauded by the New York Times, the International Rescue Committee, and many others. [1]
Volunteers serve more than 450,000 free meals daily in restaurants, mobile kitchens, school programs and in response to disasters. With roots in Indian culture, the Food for Life project is a modern day revival of the ancient Vedic culture of hospitality and the understanding of the equality of all beings.
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Food for Life claims that its roots are found in 1974, when an elderly Indian swami, Srila Prabhupada, watched as a group of village children fought with dogs over scraps of food. Upset, he told his deciples, "No one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry...I want you to immediately begin serving food." [2] In response to his plea, ISKCON devotees around the world were inspired to expand that original effort into a global network of kitchens, cafes, vans, and mobile services, all providing free food, and establishing daily delivery routes in many large cities around the world.
In the war zone of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzagovina, volunteers visited orphanages, homes for the elderly, hospitals, institutes for handicapped children, and basement shelters on a daily basis throughout the three-year conflict; an estimated 20 tons of food have been distributed since 1992.
In a New York Times article dated (December 12, 1995) volunteers were described as having "a reputation like the one Mother Teresa has in Calcutta: it’s not hard finding people to swear they are saints." [3]
Food for Life claims to have been the first food relief agency to respond to the tsunami disaster of December 2004. Volunteers in Sri Lanka and India provided more than 350,000 freshly cooked meals during the months immediately following the tsunami, along with medical care, water, clothing, and shelter.
Volunteers responded to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in late August of 2005 by providing organic meals to families relocated to Mississippi and Texas. Up to 800 meals were served daily.
Volunteers from Jammu, Amritsar, New Delhi and Harwar came together to provide relief for victims of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Working from an ISKCON temple in Udhampur, which was within the earthquake-affected region, the volunteers loaded trucks with drinking water, rice, bread, and blankets.