The Chapati Connection: Food and Mental Health

Helping Hands Charitable Trust

Aug 22, 2025

Introduction

At the Kozhikode Government Mental Health Centre, patients often sit on benches or in corridors, waiting quietly. Many have no visitors. Few have families that come. Their days blend into weeks, and meals — simple and repetitive — become the only regular routine.

Years ago, we noticed something small, but powerful:

Food — real, warm, tasty food — made a visible difference.

From that insight came the “Chapati Connection” — a weekly initiative that started with a flatbread and grew into a bridge of dignity and emotional nourishment for hundreds of psychiatric in-patients.

The Reality Inside Mental Health Wards

Mental health hospitals in Kerala, like many across India, are underfunded and under-resourced. While medications and care are provided, patients’ day-to-day needs — especially around food — are often overlooked.

Meals are mostly bland, repetitive (often upma, kanji, or rice water)
Patients are rarely asked about food preferences or nutrition
There is no differentiation in diet, even for long-term in-patients
Food becomes a chore — not care

For a group already struggling with disconnection, stigma, and silence, this adds to the sense of abandonment.

Why Food Matters for Mental Health

Science supports what our hearts knew instinctively:

Nutrition directly impacts brain function and mood
Taste and variety restore memory, comfort, and dignity
A soft, warm chapati can trigger belonging and familiarity
Eating well can reduce aggression, anxiety, and hopelessness

In mental health, food is medicine — not just for the body, but for the soul.

How It Started: Chapatis Every Thursday

Before COVID-19, our volunteers from Helping Hands used to enter the hospital kitchens directly, especially at Kuthiravattam Mental Health Centre in Kozhikode.

They brought atta (wheat flour), rolled chapatis, and cooked side by side with hospital staff.

“We couldn’t bring food from outside — so we became part of the kitchen.”

Every Thursday, patients received freshly made chapatis, a curry, and sometimes a fruit or sweet. And it showed:

Faces lit up
Patients smiled and queued up with calm
Even the staff began anticipating Chapati Day

The Post-COVID Shift

After COVID, hospital policies changed — outside entry was restricted. But the need remained. So we shifted to our own Care Home kitchen, built to hygienic standards.

Hospital authorities inspected and approved the facility. Since then, our chapatis are made with love, packaged with care, and delivered fresh to the hospital every Thursday.

What It Grew Into

The Chapati Connection became more than just flatbread:

🍽 Festival Biriyanis

On Eid, Onam, and New Year, we deliver special biriyani packs
Patients celebrate — many for the first time in years

🧹 Ward Clean-Up Drives

Volunteers helped clean wards, repaint spaces, and sanitize toilets

🛠 Support with Essentials

We’ve donated boilers, fans, mats, and other basic infrastructure
Ensured ward kitchens have minimum dignity standards

Real Stories

“The chapati days feel like someone remembered us. We look forward to it like a festival.” — Inmate at Kuthiravattam

“We used to feel guilty serving the same food daily. Now on Thursdays, it feels different.” — Hospital staff member

Why It Matters

People with mental illness are often the most forgotten in our systems. By improving something as simple as their food, we tell them they are not invisible.

“You matter. You are seen. You deserve not just treatment, but taste.”