^{This lovely spring day three of us rode into NW to revisit the Pearl Bakery, which our group hadn’t been to since 2013.  And remarkably little has changed.  Its strength – hang-out wise – are its full windows to the west and south, its visually pleasing bakery atmosphere,  and at a time when drink prices and the cost of refills at upscale shops have risen dramatically, affordable prices.    Its challenges are its hard chairs which could deter longer discussions.}

Stimulated by H and M’s recent food buying club reunion, the three of us traded stories of our past experiences with food cooperatives and clubs.  Before becoming a mortgage broker in Marin County, D was a driver for a health foods collective in Mendocino County, and now that he’s in Portland and retired he’s active again with the People’s Food Co-op; M was active with the food cooperative in Santa Cruz, and joined the buying club in Portland in the early 1990s; H joined that club in the mid-90s after stints at coops in Eugene and St. Helens.

102 NW 9th                                                    pearlbakery.com