Is it permissible to pay Zakat al-Mal (charitable giving on wealth) in the form of food that both the poor and the rich in the village consume, and is it permissible for the payer and his dependents to eat from it?

The default is that zakat should be disbursed from the same type of wealth on which it is levied. Thus, it is not permissible to give it as food unless the wealth itself is food. However, some scholars have permitted giving its value if it benefits the poor. Zakat is a right of the poor, so it is not permissible to give it to the rich. Nor is it permissible for the zakat payer or those whose maintenance is obligatory upon him to consume from it.