Feeding a Million Children a Day: Learning from Akshaya Patra
Sumit SadanaEVP and Chief Strategy Officer, SanDiskMember, Board of Directors, Second Harvest Food Bank
• Vision: No child will be deprived of an education due to hunger
• Largest youth-focused NGO in the world• Serving fresh, hot meals to 1.3 million
children/day– Started with 1500 children in 2000
• Goal: Serve 5 million children by 2020
Akshaya Patra
• Large purpose-built, innovative kitchens• Strong distribution system• State and Federal partnership• Public and Corporate support• Culture– Strong, transparent governance– Innovative culture focused on continuous
improvement– Service orientation
The Akshaya Patra Journey
Innovative Kitchen Design
Unique, Three-StageGravity Flow Mechanism
Highly-automated Kitchens: Hygienic, high-volume production
Rice for 1,000 students in 15 mins
40,000 flat-bread (roti) in 1 hr.
Custom-built vehicles for distribution
Imagine a world…
Food in America: A Social Crisis in the Making…
Cheap
Calorie-dense, addictive
Easily accessible
Little/no preparation
needed
High correlation between poverty/food insecurity and health problems like obesity, diabetes
• Free food for everyone who needs it• Fresh, highly nutritious hot meals
Audacious Goal
• Large purpose-built, innovative kitchens• Partnership with SHFB for low-cost produce• State and Federal partnership: redirect
subsidies• Distribution and Logistics Innovations• Community and Corporate support
How can we make this work?