Food Update No. 1

Only $400 to go with less than 72 hours left! We have almost reached our goal and now we're going for the final push. If you know anyone else you could recommend who might be interested in supporting our project or if you were considering increasing your donation, now is the time to do so! Thank you so much for all your help!

On another note, we have a few updates about the dinner! As part of Mala Meal, we will be using 25 lb. of locally grown whole rye flour as the main ingredient for bread that will be baked by our friend Phillip Patterson. Wild Hive Farm will be our source, a great farm from the Hudson Valley who buy their grains and produce exclusively from local and regional farmers.

Wild Hive Farm is a grain grower and grinder in Clinton Corners, NY. One of the points of the Mala Meal Project is to source food locally as much as possible. When we first did Mala Meal 10 years ago, there was not any grain available locally. The only grain was the rye or wheat farmers used to overwinter their crops but those were turned under for fertilizer, never harvested. In ten short years we have a thriving business that is focused on grain. We are using their wheat flour to bake bread for the participants in this year’s Mala Meal. It is fresh, local and comes form the fertile soil in the Hudson River Valley. A testament to the continuing journey toward sustainability that so many of us are on.

We have also received our napkins in the mail! As the Mala Meal is eaten with one's hands, the napkins are an important part of the experience. They are beautiful, handmade, and 100% organic cotton. Michelle, owner of the shop gnomeclothes on Etsy, put together 108 napkins for us so that we would have them in time for the dinner. She then proceeded to donate back 10% of the costs into our Kickstarter fund. A very warm thank you to Michelle!