Posted on 07/11/2015 5:29:15 PM PDT by Steelfish
July 9, 2015 Starving Indian Kids Denied Free Eggs Over Religion
MADKHEDA, India -- Clutching battered metal plates, the children waited patiently in a remote central Indian village for the two small flat pieces of bread and scoop of boiled potato curry that would be their only full meal that day.
They are among the 120 million malnourished children across India who depend on a government-run program serving lunch five days a week.
Still, the modest menus are clearly not enough to make up for the calories and nutrition that poverty has denied. All 35 or so children gathered on the dirt floor of their preschool in Madkheda, a village in the state of Madhya Pradesh, show the telltale signs of malnutrition - coarse hair lightened to a sandy brown for lack of nutrients, limbs stick thin, and bellies swollen from chronic hunger.
More than half the children in Madhya Pradesh state, with a population of nearly 77 million, are underweight and malnourished.
So last month, it was suggested that eggs - a key source of protein - be added to the lunch program. But that idea was rejected by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the state's top elected official, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and a strict vegetarian. He suggested that milk and bananas be given to children instead.
"As long I am the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, eggs will not be introduced," Chouhan declared in the state capital, Bhopal. "The human body is meant to consume vegetarian food, which has everything the human body requires."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Eggs aren’t vegetarian, but milk is?
Hindu isn’t what the tribals “are”.
I honeschooled my kids. I didn’t put up with them teaching them, nevermind feeding them.
Great information.
India is a far more religious country than any western country. And the poor have always had to follow the powerful people’s norms.
Not really. The description of those kids indicates that they have kwashiorkor, which means that there is inadequate protein in their diets. Children with kwashiorkor starve even if they consume sufficient calories, but do not receive adequate protein.
I remember reading about Indian families who did fine as strict vegetarians in India, but developed signs of protein insufficiency upon immigrating to the US. This happened because US standards for food quality prohibit insect-infested foods from being sold. In India, however, lax food quality standards mean that food is often infested with insects. What happened is that before they left India, these vegetarians consumed enough insects to meet their protein needs. But when they moved to the US, they started eating insect-free food and became malnourished.
I remember having to have a conversation with my bunny about the concept of "herbivore" when I caught him eating cat food. Silly bunny.
Religious? No. Caste driven politically- Yes.
Religious? No. Caste driven politically- Yes.
My dogs had pork roast and broccoli tonight.
When my dog ate a piece of broccoli that fell on the floor, we had to put her outside.
He’s not saying that they can’t have food. He is offering nutritious alternatives to the eggs. Milk and banana can provide more protein than you might think. Especially if you get some beans every once in a while.
It’s not fancy but it was what my family did.
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is a meat eater. He has sold out his rights. Perhaps, the river will claim him, soon.
Yeah I’ve seen cows eat meat on the farm. Obviously they aren’t predators and aren’t equipped to kill or break open a body but if its open and available they will gather around and eat entrails.
I served with a guy whose family owned a pig farm. He said they’d occasionally add a strip or two of bacon to the feed. The hogs would go crazy trying to beat the others to the bacon. Crazy stuff.
I eat a lot of broccoli too so its a competition around here.
What? Vegetarians eat eggs. Vegans don’t...right?
Denied eggs?
Hell, that nothing.
The Food Luddites, and you Freepers who are a part of this evil cabal know who you are, have denied these people bountiful supplies of wheat and rice for more than a decade.
Judging from the name Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan isn’t Hindu.
Yeah.
That started about the time they began adding peanut oil to vaccinations as an "adjuvant".
It could be a Hindu name, but not sure. It could be a Sikh religion person with “Singh” included. India consists of two dozen states, each with their own language although Hindi is major language in many states. Which is why it was chosen as The National Language. Only names I can be certain of are if they were from the 3 states whose languages I am familiar with.
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