“He was thankful for the pouring rain as he ran past the little shop, hiding his tears, heading towards his sanctuary, the bridge near his school. Sobbing profusely, he couldn’t fathom how everything became so twisted in a matter of 24 hours. No amount of traffic seemed to draw out the sound of Guddi’s screams in his head. Baba had told him that she was never going to wake up again. Amma tried her best to give them a roti every night and the little seedling happily shared whatever was given to her, saying she wasn’t hungry much. He wished he hadn’t eaten the khichdi last night and given it to her. She wouldn’t have left him like this. Her face flashed before his eyes as he climbed the bridge over the river. How he wished he could bring her back! ”
Guddi didn’t die of cancer or because she wasn’t given enough medical attention. She died because of lack of something so basic- food! This is the story of 25 lakh Indians who die every year because of Hunger. As we get into our beds peacefully tonight, 20 crore of our countrymen will sleep with an empty stomach. While on the other hand, 40% of the food that is produced in our country, is simply wasted, which is enough to feed one-third of the country’s poor.
In our country, food has always been a major part of all celebrations, festivals and occasions. We never even allow any visitors to leave our home without serving food to them. All of us have been taught to offer our prayers to the almighty, to show our respect and gratitude, for this blessing. While, in our culture, food has always been valued, we are all guilty at some level for wasting it.
If you try to connect the dots, you’d realize that this excess food we throw away could maybe be a solution to ending hunger. As it turns out, it is indeed true. Feeding India is one such initiative which aims to connect the two major social problems of today: Hunger and Food waste, as solutions for each other. They tackle these by channelizing excess food from individuals, weddings, restaurants, corporate offices to the ones in need. The ‘Hunger Heroes’, as they call themselves, do not create new food to feed the less privileged, but simply direct the extra food which is already created. They also tackle the problem at its roots, where they encourage people not to waste food at all.
Having fed more than 3,00,000 people in just one year, the organization is now on their next mission to awaken our fellow countrymen to realize something that change can start with just one person. Feeding India in collaboration with The Logical Indian is celebrating the World Food Week together to mark the beginning of a movement towards ending hunger and food waste in the country. #IAmFeedingIndia is a revolution which aims to encourage people to realize the importance of food in their and someone else’s life and ultimately have a zero hunger day.
