Food Vs Education - what's the need of the hour?

MFK Fisher said: First we eat, then we do everything else. So the quest for food is somehow more pressing than any other need. Millions of children around the world must work hard to get food, others go without food or still others consume food that’s not nutritious enough.

Where in the priority of these children would be education then? If they go empty stomach every other night, how will they ever focus on studying? In a country like India, more than children, it’s the parents who constantly suffer from this dilemma. Should they fend for their children first or think about their education?

Top NGOs in the country are striving to provide food and education to children so they never have to choose between the two most crucial aspects of a child’s growth. Akshaya Patra, however, went one step ahead and decided to incentivise education. When children come to school, they get mid-day meal free of cost. As a result, children are motivated to come to school while their parents feel unburdened of one-time meal so they can send their children to school every day.

Combining food and education

While as a basic physical need, the choice is obvious between food and education, yet both are equally important. When Akshaya Patra Foundation, which is today one of the top NGOs in the country channelising charity fundraising for education, set off on its mission to feed the children, it planned both food and education together. In active partnership with the government, the organisation succeeded in providing mid-day meals to millions of children in India. Akshaya Patra completed 2 billion meals in August 2016 and aims at establishing more centralised kitchens to reach out to more schools in 2017.

With its mission of Food for Education, the organisation channelised schools, volunteers, parents and teachers to spread awareness about sending children to schools. The mid-day meal scheme had two-fold effect. On one hand, it helped in feeding children in schools and solved their problem of at least one-time meal. On the other hand, it encouraged parents to send all their children to school so no child in the family was deprived of education.

But what was truly unexpected were the various aspirations that got wings in schools. There have been several children who didn’t know that if they were fed well, they would have the time to think about their future or dream about what they want to become as they grow up. Several hope stories emerged out when children came up to share their dreams and ambitions.

We realised during this journey that food and education are intrinsically related. It’s true that good nutrition boosts the growth of the immune system. This enables children to pursue things other than just the physical needs such as food or sleep. The children who are well-fed find themselves full of energy and motivation to achieve and think.

Akshaya Patra also engaged several other corporate organisations and individuals encouraging them to donate for a cause such as this. All charity donations going to the organisation are tax deductible donations.

The Food for Education mission was aimed at realising that both food and education cannot be pursued separately. They need to be seen and sought together. If you think you can be part of a noble cause such as this, you may engage in charity fundraising and donate to us.