Starting August 2 (and every Sunday thereafter through Labor Day), the Vegan Paradise farmers market will take place at The Plant—the site of former Peer Foods meatpacking plant—in Chicago. The event is a collaboration between the Chicago Vegan Test Kitchen (CVTK) and Bubbly Dynamics, a social enterprise that turned The Plant into a small business incubator and production facility. Initially, Bubbly Dynamics founder John Edel planned to host a museum that paid homage to Chicago’s meatpacking industry but went with the vegan farmers market instead.
The Vegan Paradise event will be free but requires pre-registration and all vendors will be cooking offsite. “We will be featuring some of your favorite local plant-based chefs, cruelty-free crafters, conscious body care, as well as local farmers,” CVTK describes the event. For the event, CVTK is partnering with Cruelty Free You and Me (which provides vegan meals for summer camps) to create a drop-off site for food donations to benefit I Grow Chicago, an organization working to empower the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago.
The market will enforce several safety measures to be compliant with COVID-19 health advisories, including requiring masks, checking the temperatures of vendors and attendees and managing the flow of traffic to allow for social distancing.
Photo Credit: The Plant
