This year, The Bombay Canteen’s annual celebration of good food and a good cause is supporting Indian farmers in Andhra Pradesh’s Cheduputtu in association with Naandi Foundation. Attend online talks, simply donate or order in an Independence Day Daawat box, containing a delicious meal featuring dishes from across India, made using indigenous produce.
The Bombay Canteen Independence Day Daawat is back in its seventh edition! This annual event, started six years ago, is a celebration of not just good food but also represents the spirit of togetherness and unity. Each year, The Bombay Canteen has supported a noble cause with the daawat – Teach for India in 2015 and 2016, Miracle Foundation in 2017 and 2018, while in 2019, they adopted the cause of the Indian farmer. The Independence Day Daawat is a week-long celebration involving scrumptious meals and enlightening talks by eminent personalities, all for a good cause. Over the last six years, more than 3,000 diners, staff and others have raised Rs 66.8 lakh to support the various charities.
To support Indian farmers, The Bombay Canteen partnered with Naandi Foundation, a social sector organisation that helps independent farmers rehabilitate their eco-systems and create a more sustainable livelihood. The organisation has been working in the Araku region for over two decades to transform the lives of Adivasi families. In 2019, the brand adopted a small village, Cheduputtu, in Andhra Pradesh. In 2019, it was about building sustainable livelihoods for Araku farmers while in 2020, funds were raised to plant trees for intercropping, to create the foundation of functional forests. This year, the brand is focusing on soil and its regeneration.
There are a number of ways to get involved in the daawat celebrations. You could order in the Independence Day Daawat box, which will contain a meal that’s been made using indigenous produce from Cheduputtu. The meal comes packed in an eco-friendly box and features dishes from across the country, including a chickpea sundal stir-fried with jaggery-mustard, tapioca crumble and curry patta, Chef Floyd’s tendli foogath made with kokum, Goan garam masala and coconut, a millet jeera pulao and an Assamese dal, among others. Proceeds from each meal go towards reviving one-tenths of an acre of farmland soil in Cheduputtu.
Or you could attend online workshops and talks by personalities such as comedian Rohan Joshi, Chef Thomas Zacharias, Chef Heena Punwani, Chef Vinesh Johny and Roshan Abbas.
Even if you can’t attend the talks or order in a Daawat box, you could simply donate towards the cause. Proceeds will be used to either plant more trees, build solar panels or contribute to soil compost.
The Independence Day Daawat is available by pre-order only until August 14, with the meal to be delivered for either lunch or dinner on August 15. Each box is good for two and is priced at Rs 2,500 for delivery.
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