Vegan Bakery Pops Up with Social Justice Mission

Vegan pop-up Blackstreet Bakery will launch its premier event on Saturday at the Mississippi Street Fair in Portland, OR. The pop-up bakery is organized by new social justice-driven organization Brown Hope, which aims to empower people of color in the region, and was formed after a recent incident when a black woman was denied service at local vegan bakery Garden of Eden several minutes after closing time. “After that, a community member reached out and wanted to help fund an initiative to support black vegan baking,” Brown Hope organizer Cameron Whitten told local media outlet Portland Mercury. “It’s an opportunity to take a painful and difficult experience and turn it into a new business opportunity.” At its inaugural event, Blackstreet will serve a variety of baked goods such as chocolate chip cookies, banana cream mini-pies, hush puppies, and apple crisps, and will recruit local bakers to prepare items for weekly pop-ups thereafter.