Sikh kitchens turning food banks in Britain - Hindustan Times
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Sikh kitchens turning food banks in Britain

None | ByIANS, London: London
Jul 23, 2015 03:31 PM IST

The homeless in Britain are turning to Sikh community kitchens (langar) at gurdwaras for hot meals as the demand for food banks rises, a media report said.

The homeless in Britain are turning to Sikh community kitchens (langar) at gurdwaras for hot meals as the demand for food banks rises, a media report said.

UK based Guru Nanak's free Kitchen servies food to the homeless. Photo Credit Facebook
UK based Guru Nanak's free Kitchen servies food to the homeless. Photo Credit Facebook

Nearly 5,000 meals are being served to non-Sikhs each week by Britain’s 250 gurdwaras and efforts are being made to take langar out of gurdwaras to fulfill its core objective of serving the whole community, according to Britain-based The Conversation website.

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“British Sikhs have established food relief organisations in cities across Britain. The Midland Langar Seva Society in Birmingham, the Kirpa Food Bank in Wolverhampton, Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen based in Doncaster and Edinburgh, the Bedford Langar project, the Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team (SWAT) based in London and Nishkam Help based in Birmingham and Leeds are some examples,” Jasjit Singh, a post-doctoral research and impact fellow at University of Leeds, was quoted as saying.

In these community kitchens, meals are offered for free and everything from the buying of food to the preparation of meals is based on donations. The trend is not just confined to Britain, according to Jasjit Singh, who is carrying out a research on the religious lives of young Sikhs in Britain.

“In Canada, the Seva Food Bank serves food to low-income families. In Los Angeles, the Khalsa Food Pantry and Khalsa Peace Corps provide meals to the destitute, while the Sikhcess project provides food and clothing to the homeless in a number of local communities across the US,” he said.

In addition to contributing to communities they live in, Sikh charities such as United Sikhs also contribute to humanitarian efforts in different parts of the world as needed.

The idea of langar as a community kitchen was developed by Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, in his settlement at Kartarpur, now in Pakistan. It was developed as a practical manifestation of his teachings where devotees were encouraged to work hard and share the fruits of their labour.

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