This was the first food I invented. I had founded and was running the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute (www.pcei.org) when I met a farmer who was growing a very unique heirloom garbanzo bean called “desi” or “chana dal.” He was struggling to find a market for this little bean that looks like a yellow split pea, because it lent itself nicely to organic farming methods. After considerable thought, I decided I would attempt to develop a recipe for Falafel and buy his beans. After months of testing, I launched my first dried food mix. My kids endured many versions of “Mom’s awful falafel,” but my recipe eventually won prestigious awards. Falafel, a food sold on street corners in the Middle East like hot dogs in New York City, is a meat replacement food staple no pantry should be without. This is a Project F.A.R.M. (First-class American Rural Made) product.