only in portland
This one-of-a-kind mini-mall in Portland is a vegan paradise
There is a place where vegans can go and never have to worry about running across something derived from an animal: The world's first vegan mini-mall in Portland, Oregon.
Portland has a long history of supporting vegetarians and vegans, the Los Angeles Times reports. In the late 1800s, Seventh-Day Adventists, who shun meat, flocked to the Rose City, and today it even has a vegan strip club, where animal-free food is served and the dancers aren't allowed to don fur, leather, silk, or pearls. At the mini-mall, the Food Fight! grocery store sells such staples as fruits and vegetables and specialty items like meatless jerky and dairy-free chocolate. After loading up on groceries, patrons can hit up the Sweetpea Baking Co. for vegan baked goods, Herbivore for clothes and pleather purses, and Scapegoat Tattoo, where owner Brian Thomas Wilson uses ink that does not contain any animal byproducts.
Wilson told the Times that when he opened the shop a decade ago, there weren't too many people looking for a vegan tattoo parlor. Now, he often finds himself tattooing pieces that showcase a client's dedication to the lifestyle. Wilson himself became a vegan in 1999, after he ordered a 79-cent breakfast at a casino in Reno, and couldn't eat the hunk of ham and fluorescent yellow eggs. "That was the lightbulb that went off," he said. "It changed my whole life."