Meanwhile, activists and concerned citizens are expressing apprehension over the fate of the mid-day meal programme that has reportedly served over 3.3 billion meals over the last 20 years. Students from over 19,000 schools across the country receive food from APF that is considered to be of hygienic quality, and the programme is one of the largest in the world. The programme has been controversial too, as it serves vegetarian satvik food (without onions and garlic) and has been questioned by many for its nutritional value and the attempt at pushing a particular diet.[3]
Other initiatives
The Akshaya Patra kitchens produce about 350 kilograms of organic waste each day.[4] To reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, the foundation has set up biogas plants in some of its kitchens. This initiative started with the centralized kitchens at Bellary and Vasanthapura (Bengaluru) on Earth Day (22 April) 2016 [5] and now extends to six kitchens across the country.[6] The biogas plants, with a capacity to process 1 tonne per day (TPD) of organic waste, generate 120 to 150 m3 of biogas the equivalent of 30 kilograms of LPG.[7] This gas is consumed in the kitchen's cooking operations and saves APF INR 38,500 per month.[5] This translates to savings of about 10% in total energy consumption required for cooking.[4]
APF has installed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at some of its kitchens. Based on the weather these systems produce 80-100 units of electricity per day and this power's the facility's daytime energy requirement e.g. the Bengaluru plant generates 10 kW of power and this is entirely consumed by the facility, whereas the Surat plant generates 12 kW of power with some of the surplus power being fed back to the grid for a credit.[4]
After the COVID-19 lockdown was announced, Akshaypatra began a food program to feed the migrant workers. They provided cooked food as well as dry grocery kits. [8][9]
Awards
In 2019, APF received the BBC’s Global Food Champion Award.[10]
