Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor cooks for children's charity in UK

London, Nov 14 (PTI) Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor visited the London charity kitchen of Akshaya Patra, a 24-year-old Indian-origin organisation that claims to feed nearly 2.25 million children at schools and places of learning daily in India and the UK.
     During a visit to the UK last week, the leading Indian television personality met the charity's team of chefs to share a variety of recipes and tips on making tasty food that is simple, nutritious, cost-effective and flavourful to appeal to the diverse tastes among children. He also prepared a colourful pasta dish with freshly made sauce and seasonal vegetables and tossed up a crunchy salad to showcase that "good food doesn't have to be expensive and nutritious food doesn't have to taste bad".
     "It is an important day in my life to visit the first international kitchen of an Indian-origin charity that feeds millions of children for the purpose of education,” said Kapoor.
     “Here in the UK, there is a lot of food poverty and the numbers are staggering. Kudos to the dedicated Akshaya Patra UK team for creating a difference in the United Kingdom. The UK's need is very different, and the team here has come up with a unique model to fill the gap in this part of the world," he said.
     According to the Food Foundation charity, around 4 million children in UK households are affected by food insecurity and the Childhood Trust puts the number of children suffering from hunger in London alone at 426,500.
     “Akshaya Patra has a long history of delivering transformative school meals programme. It is a sad reality for a country such as the UK, that a charity like Akshaya Patra needs to get involved in supporting children's nutritional needs and help them make most of their education,” said Daniel Adams, CEO of Akshaya Patra UK.
     The charity provides meals in schools and at after-school clubs as part of its ‘Hot Meals and Homework’ programme. Adams said Kapoor’s visit to the Akshaya Patra site in Watford, north of London, brought insightful wisdom for the team to cater to a “diverse British palate”.
     Akshaya Patra UK is a registered charity dedicated to providing nutritious hot meals to hungry children in the country. Until 2020, the charity existed in the UK with the purpose of fundraising for its India feeding programme. However, in response to the growing food poverty in the UK, it expanded its efforts to a food service with the help of partners and supporters.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)