Long Island Vegan Pop Up comes to local communities
Jerk oyster mushrooms, macaroni and cheese, salad and fried portabella strips from Stea's Kitchen. Credit: Joe Rubio
Longtime friends David Lockworth and Jerry Laine launched last July the traveling Long Island Vegan Pop Up, a roving farmers market of sorts with alternating locations in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.
After realizing how much time they had been spending in traffic traveling to Brooklyn, Queens or Manhattan just to get some vegan eats, they decided it was time to bring the eats to them. "I felt like there had to be other people that felt how I did," Lockworth said.
He was right. The duo initially launched a meet-up of about 15 vendors at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Levittown. The pop up has since grown to feature more than 30 businesses at locations in West Babylon (In the Word Ministries) and East Patchogue (VFW Post 8300), with upcoming appearances planned Oct. 9 at the Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore and Nov. 7 at Clementines in Sayville.
Admission is free for the family- and pet-friendly event, which typically runs Sundays from 2 to 6 p.m. Expect to find more than just grub and drinks too— there's also a lineup of vegan health, wellness and aromatherapy products, jewelry and clothing. Live music, bounce houses, games, contests, giveaways and panel discussions are additional goings-on.
Sea-Moss Bullies, Inc., The Waffle Chic and Soul Plant Food have a presence at each pop up, while other vendors rotate. On the edible — and drinkable — front, vendors have included Peach and Pine Cafe, The Happy Pig, Juice PLNT and Anona Blends.
For now, the pop up is scheduled through November, but Lockworth and Laine are hopeful they’ll find a large enough indoor venue to keep it going year-round.
Follow the Long Island Vegan Pop Up on Instagram at @longislandveganpopup; 516-306-1578, longislandveganpopup.com
