Former Chicago Meatpacking Plant Hosts Vegan Farmers Market 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

🥳Big news everyone! 🥳Chicago Vegan Test Kitchen is coming back as Chicago’s first all Vegan Farmer’s Market series that will be called Vegan Paradise! We will be hosting it with our friends at @insidetheplant ! We will be featuring some of your favorite local plant-based chefs, cruelty free crafters, conscious body care as well as local farmers! The farmers market will be outdoors every Sunday starting August 2nd until Labor Day from 11AM-5PM. This will be very different from our previous markets to be Covid-19 compliant. Here are some of the precautions we are taking. Masks are required for everyone inside of the market.😷 We will be checking temps of all vendors and attendees at the gate entrance🤒 RSVP will be mandatory for entry and FREE tickets will be issued for limited hourly entrance times in order to allow everyone to enjoy the market while properly social distancing.❤ All Food Sales will be pre-sale and no food will be cooked on site.🍱 There will be a one direction flow for the market with the entrance outside into the farmers market area and the exit going through the Whiner Beer taproom. 🍻 This market is rain or shine. On possible rainy days it will be curbside pick-up.🌦🚗 We are very excited to be supporting our local businesses again! We will also be partnering with @crueltyfreeyouandme as a drop off site for food donations that benefit @igrowchicago summer camp in Englewood and other initiatives they have in providing vegan meals to folks in the community! They are doing wonderful things so be sure to give them a follow🌱 Tickets will be available next week so stay tuned!😻 CVTK+Bubbly Dynamics VEGAN PARADISE THE PLANT 1400 W 46TH ST (BACK OF THE YARDS) EVERY SUNDAY RAIN OR SHINE AUGUST 2 - SEPTEMBER 6 FREE + FAMILY FRIENDLY #chicagovegantestkitchen #staytuned #chicagosfirstveganfarmersmarket #chicagovegans #theplantchicago #whinerbeertaproom #supportlocalveganbusinesses #backoftheyards #byoMask

A post shared by Chicago Vegan Test Kitchen (@chicagovegantestkitchen) on Jul 10, 2020 at 3:41pm PDT

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.