Food for Life Global

Member of Food for Life Russia giving food

Food for Life distributes food on an international basis produced solely from Vegan and Vegetarian ingredients.

Hare Krishna Food for Life is the world's largest vegan and vegetarian non-profit food relief organization with projects in over 60 countries. Volunteers serve more than 1,500,000 free meals daily in a variety of ways, including: food vans serving to the homeless within major cities around the world; lunch time meals for poor school children throughout India; and also in response to large natural disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

With roots in India, the Food for Life project is a modern day revival of the ancient Vedic culture of hospitality with its belief in the equality of all beings. It was conceived of and began by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1974 and is thus commonly known as Hare Krishna Food for Life. It has been lauded by the New York Times and the International Rescue Committee (among others) for its relief efforts worldwide.

History

Food for Life was born more than 30 years ago, elderly Indian Swami, known as A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1974 when watching a group of village children fighting with dogs over scraps of food, the Swami became upset and told his students, "No one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry...I want you to immediately begin serving food." In response to his plea, members of ISKCON and volunteers 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. Since that day, Food for Life has grown into the world’s largest vegan/vegetarian food relief program.

Food For Life volunteers have provided food for the poor and homeless during several recent disasters.

• 2008 - Food for Life served freshly cooked vegan meals to survivors of Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike in the southern United States.

• 2007 - Bangladesh: Hundreds of thousands of survivors were left homeless after the deadliest cyclone to hit Bangladesh in a decade. Soon after the dust settled, Food For Life volunteers were on the ground with a truck full of food to feed the hungry people.

• 2005 - Pakistan: Following the Pakistan earthquake, Food for Life volunteers worked side-by-side with local military and police personnel, distributing drinking water, food, tents and blankets.

• 2005 - Mississippi and Texas: When Hurricane Katrina struck with deadly force, Food for Life volunteers were among the first responders, distributing up to 800 freshly cooked meals daily to needy families in Mississippi and Texas.<

• 2004 - 2005 Sri Lanka and India: A killer Tsunami wreaked incomprehensible devastation, resulting in the deaths of nearly 200,000 people. Once again, Food for Life volunteers joined the relief effort on the very day of the disaster, providing thousands of meals daily, along with medical care, clothing and shelter.

• In the 1990s, Food for Life volunteers risked their lives in the war-torn countries of Chechnya, Bosnia and Abkhazia, distributing food to needy and frightened civilians.

In total, Food for Life has distributed more than 750 million meals since its inception.

And yet, direct food relief is only part of the story. Food for Life has expanded its reach to include, eco projects such as Working Villages International; schools for the poor such as the Sandipani Muni school in Vrindavan, India, as well as orphanages such as Gokulam – Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home Gokulamin Sri Lanka, a refuge where needy children receive food, shelter, medical care, education and loving care.

Slum children at the Food for Life School in Vrindavan, India enjoying their lunch

Mid Day Meals

A Strategic program to address two of the most pressing problems of India : Hunger & Education. The Government of India has made education for children in the age group of 6 to 14 years compulsory, but poverty prevents the underprivileged from getting full value of their educational experience.

Hunger obstructs education as children are forced to leave schools and take up menial jobs. Lack of education curtails opportunities for development and leads to the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger. Education empowers a child to explore his potentials and earn a decent living and live a respectable life in our society.

ISKCON FOOD RELIEF FOUNDATION, has resolved to liberate the underprivileged from this vicious cycle by feeding the poor with sanctified and nutritious food.

In just three years since it was founded, the program has scaled to provide over 1,00,000 hygienic and nutritious meals every day through an extremely cost-effective program. has demonstrated and is now showcased as an operating model that can strategically address two of the most pressing problems for poor children in India : hunger and education.

Disaster Relief

Siege of Sarajevo

In the war zone of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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.

Chechnyan Wars

In a New York Times article dated (December 12, 1995) volunteers in Chechnya 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."

2004 Tsunami

Food for Life was the first food relief agency to respond to the tsunami disaster of December 2004. On the same afternoon the great tsunami hit, Vaisnava monks at ISKCON's temple in Chennai, India were preparing their weekly Sunday vegetarian feast, when they heard of the disaster. They immediately raced to the most affected areas on the southeast coastline of India and began serving thousands of people with their preprepared vegetable curry. Over the following 6 months, Food for Life Volunteers in Sri Lanka, India, Europe, USA and Australia provided more than 350,000 freshly cooked meals, along with medical care, water, clothing, and shelter for children at ISKCON's orphanage in Colombo, the Bhaktivedanta Children's Home.

Hurricane Katrina

Volunteers responded to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in late August of 2005 by providing meals to families relocated to Mississippi and Texas. Up to 800 meals were served daily.

Pakistan Earthquake

Volunteers from Jammu, Amritsar, New Delhi and Haridwar 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.

Food for Life Global

Food for Life Global (FFLG) website, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization established in 1996 and registered in the State of Maryland, is the international headquarters for Food for Life. FFLG promotes peace and prosperity in the world by providing organizational and operating support to Food for Life projects through activities such as:

• coordinating volunteers and relief efforts
• publishing Food for Life Friends newsletter
• providing grants to FFL projects worldwide
• publishing a training manual for Food for Life volunteers
• maintaining the Food for Life website
• producing promotional materials – videos, music CDs, flyers, donor prospectus, posters, etc.
• conducting training seminars around the world
• inaugurating Feed the World Week
• representing Food for Life at vegetarian conferences
• authoring articles for vegetarian magazines and newspapers

Food for Life Global is funded by private donations, foundations, and corporate and government grants. With the continued generous support of its members and corporate sponsors, Food for Life Global seeks to maintain and expand its current programs to feed the world’s hungry and fight poverty by promoting health, education and sustainability.

External links

• Food for Life Homepage
• Hare Krishna Live
• Food for Life Vrindavan
• ISKCON Food Relief Foundation