Food For Life Global-Americas Inc
Uniting the World Through Pure Food
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In its efforts to eradicate world hunger, Food for Life trains its volunteers to be selfless, humble, compassionate, equipoised, and broad-minded enough to understand the needs and concerns of the world they live in. In fact, Food for Life volunteers often risks their own lives to help those in need. Throughout the fighting in Grozny, Chechnya, for example, Food for Life volunteers cooked and served hot vegan meals to desperate civilians in the war-torn city. More than one million meals were served during the 20-month conflict. New York Times correspondent Michael Specter visited the Krishna devotees at their kitchen in Chechnya and wrote of them: “…here they have a reputation like the one Mother Teresa has in Calcutta: it’s not hard finding someone to swear they are saints.” These volunteers showed tolerance and compassion above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrating true equanimity and a deep understanding of their human responsibility.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Feeding the needy
Food for Life Global's international network of over 200 affiliates directly serve the local needy people, freshly cooked vegan meals. Food for Life Global provides grants to support these efforts.
Food Yoga
Food for Life Global believes that world hunger is due to inequality and we, therefore, advocate for the equality of all life through actions and education, specifically providing healthful vegan meals to those in need and educating the public about the power of food to unite all peoples.
Our Food Yoga project educates the public on the work and philosophy of Food for Life Global and also teaches them how to nourish their body, mind, and soul through proper food choices and attitudes.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Average number of service recipients per month
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This is the approximate number of meals delivered every month by our over 273 affiliates around the world. Due to covid lockdowns, some of our projects had to reduce their capacity.
Number of youth who volunteer/participate in community service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Non-adult children, Veterans, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The number of volunteers assisting our affiliate projects around the world.
Number of youth who demonstrate that their school attendance has improved
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Pacific Islanders, Multiracial people, People of African descent, People of Asian descent
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The number of underprivileged children attending school because our our affiliate's free lunch programs.
Number of community-based organizations providing primary prevention services in nutrition
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of Food for Life Global affiliates around the world
Number of new website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of new visitors to our website
Number of website pageviews
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Health, Ethnic and racial groups, Social and economic status
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of page views on our website
Number of unique website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Health, Social and economic status
Related Program
Feeding the needy
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of visitors to our website during that year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The jewel of India's spiritual wisdom, the Bhagavad-gita describes equanimity as a natural expression of ones spiritual wisdom. The Sanskrit term Sama darshan is used, which translates as equal vision, and the Gita describes it as that which separates the truly wise person from the fool.
Food for Life believes that food, so central to the survival of every culture on earth, holds the key to real peace and prosperity. What better way to express that understanding than by educating people on the value of spiritual equality and the selfless sharing of karma-free pure food?
We at Food for Life Global strongly believe that it is the responsibility of every human being on the planet to take action to eradicate malnutrition, which is killing upwards of 12 million children every year. This position, long-held by many leading vegetarians, was confirmed by the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Since 1974, Food for Life has been committed to the practical response of establishing feeding programs in more than 60 countries throughout the world. However, our resources are very limited; sadly, we are losing the race against world hunger. We, therefore, call out in earnest to all people around the world to accept this human responsibility. Its time for real action. Establish feeding programs in your area, make concerted efforts to educate the public about the global benefits of a plant-based diet, and more importantly, embrace this concept of spiritual equality as a permanent solution to world hunger.
Our goals for 2023 are as follows:
1. Increase our affiliates by 20 projects
2. Support the development and marketing of the Kindly Ecosystem social impact engine
3. Crowdfund a Vegan cookbook on Kickstarter to support the charity
4. Increase our online site visits 100%
5. Serve over 1 billion meals in 2024
6. Launch a new line of vegan products to support the charity operations
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Food for Life started in India, after the founder, Swami Prabhupada proclaimed to his yoga students that no one should go hungry within a ten-mile radius of a temple. Since that time, over 8 billion free plant-based meals have been served to the needy on six continents. Food for Life has emerged as the largest vegan food relief program in the world! Food for Lifes missionto bring about peace and prosperity through the liberal distribution of pure plant-based food prepared with loving intentionis thus advanced through a twofold strategy:
1. Feeding programs
Food for Life operates feeding programs through the following distribution channels.
Lunch meals to school children
Budget restaurants
Emergency relief
Shelters (homeless, single women and men)
College feeding programs
Cultural festivals
Food for Life currently operates feeding programs through all of the above distribution channels.
2. Education
Public Discourses
Distribution of Literature
Networking with other NGOs
Social Media
Food Yoga
Food for Life is a conscious organization with the vision that the worlds problems can be solved by spiritual solutions. Specifically, regarding world hunger, Food for Life maintains that when the people of the world recognize the spiritual equality of all beings, they will learn to share equally in the bounty of the earth, and only then will they experience genuine peace and prosperity.
We have expanded our efforts to unite the world through the sharing of pure food, to include the feeding of rescued animals and advocacy on animal abuse.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We currently have a network of over 250 affiliate projects serving freshly cooked meals to the local needy in 65 countries and educating the public about the power of food to unite and create unity. We have demonstrated our effectiveness in delivering fresh meals, having already served over 8.4 billion free meals and as our message of uniting the world through pure food expands, we believe that there is no stopping this effort.
Our approach has always been and will continue to be non-sectarian. Although Food for Life has roots in India's vegetarian hospitality culture, we realize the need to shine a light on the essence of that hospitality which is respect for all life, using food as our medium.
The only thing limiting our ability to achieve our goal of world unity is the funds to expand our infrastructure.
It is important to also note that Food for Life Global which is now managing the FFLG brand and website is a new NGO (founded in 2018). Our charity has gone through a few structural changes these last 6 years, including converting the last HQ was based in Slovenia into our European branch.
We have proven ourselves as an effective food relief organization and will continue to do so with the help of public donations.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our international network of over 50 affiliate projects has already served over 8.4 billion free meals. We aim to reach 20 billion by the end of 2030.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Food For Life Global-Americas Inc
Board of directorsas of 03/13/2024
Paul Turner
Food for Life Global - Americas Inc.
Term: 2017 - 2022
Juliana Castaneda Turner
Food for Life Global
Term: 2017 - 2022
Luz Stella Castaneda Rodriguez
Juliana Castaneda
Jordie Ruggles
Rupal Turner
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/11/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.