Nutrition – India-US Partnership Expands School Meal Support for Children
Nutrition – A growing international collaboration aimed at improving access to nutritious meals for school children is gaining momentum as humanitarian organisations from India and the United States strengthen efforts to address child hunger across developing countries.
A new partnership involving US-based anti-hunger organisation Share Our Strength and India-focused charitable groups was highlighted during a special gathering in Washington, where philanthropists, chefs, entrepreneurs and social impact leaders discussed strategies to improve child nutrition and expand breakfast programmes for students.
Collaboration Focuses on Child Hunger Solutions
During the event, Share Our Strength founder and executive chair Billy Shore said the organisation had significantly increased its activities in India over the last few years. According to Shore, the initiative has already reached nearly 600,000 children and delivered around 30 million meals through its nutrition programmes.
He explained that the organisation initially started with smaller support initiatives but has now moved toward broader partnerships involving advocacy campaigns, culinary collaborations and community engagement efforts. Shore noted that India was chosen as a key focus area because of the country’s existing support for school meal programmes, expanding food industry and growing economy.
Leaders Call for Wider Participation
The Washington discussion included prominent figures such as spiritual leader Sri Madhusudan Sai, RASA DC co-founder Rahul Vinod and award-winning chef Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto. Participants exchanged ideas on how governments, private organisations and individuals could work together to reduce hunger among children.
Sai, whose One World One Family Mission operates education, healthcare and nutrition projects in multiple countries, stressed that lasting change would require cooperation from every section of society. He said hunger cannot be solved by governments or large institutions alone and urged individuals and communities to take active responsibility.
He also described inequality and food insecurity as issues linked to human behaviour and encouraged people to contribute through consistent positive action. According to Sai, gradual and continuous improvement should be considered an important measure of success in humanitarian work.
Push for Stronger State-Level Engagement in India
Sai further emphasised the importance of working closely with state governments across India to strengthen school meal initiatives. He encouraged international partners to support conversations with regional administrations to help scale nutrition programmes for children in underserved communities.
Event organisers said school breakfast programmes play an important role in improving attendance, concentration and overall health among students, especially in economically vulnerable regions.
Share Our Strength Plans International Expansion
During the gathering, Share Our Strength also announced plans to establish a separate international initiative named “Strength Global” over the next 18 months. The proposed entity is expected to focus primarily on international partnerships and nutrition projects in countries such as India, while the parent organisation continues its anti-hunger work within the United States.
Founded in 1984 during the Ethiopian famine crisis, Share Our Strength is widely recognised in the US for its “No Kid Hungry” campaign, which supports child nutrition and access to school meals.
According to information shared at the event, the One World One Family Mission currently runs integrated programmes related to nutrition, healthcare and education in nearly 100 countries. Its Annapoorna Breakfast Programme reportedly provides free morning meals to more than 10 million children studying in over 150,000 schools across 25 Indian states and four Union Territories.
Growing India-US Cooperation in Social Impact Initiatives
The partnership also reflects increasing cooperation between India and the United States in areas such as public welfare, nutrition and philanthropic development. Experts at the event noted that child malnutrition and food insecurity continue to remain major global concerns despite economic growth in several regions.
Leaders participating in the discussion expressed hope that stronger international collaboration, combined with government support and community involvement, could help improve nutrition access for millions of children in the years ahead.