Help Grow a Community Bakery

Thank you so much for all of your support over the past 30 days (and the past 2 and a half years)!

We are in awe of your generosity, and so proud of all of the many ways that folks came out to support this effort.

We're moving forward with our work for the fall, and we'll keep you updated about our plans. Also, we know that some people are still interested in donating – we'll still graciously accept any donations you want to give.

What is Bread Uprising?

Bread Uprising is a community bakery in Durham, NC, rooted in queer, people-of-color, and working class communities.

For over two years we’ve baked the weekly bread for an average of 35 families & households. We’ve built a bakery where members contribute what they can, and receive the bread that they want and need. Yes, this means that we do not sell the bread – we are creating an economy based on love and solidarity. Bread Uprising’s membership is a radical majority (at least 60%) people of color, and there is priority membership for anyone who does not have consistent access to food.

Bread Uprising is a cooperative in which both workers and members make decisions about what happens in the bakery. We hold assemblies twice a year for workers, members, and supporters to bond, celebrate, and plan the growth of the bakery. We've led workshops about food justice and food sovereignty and held study sessions to help us think more deeply about how to build and maintain a multi-racial, multi-class, multi-queer membership in the face of systems of oppression.

In nine seasons of our subscription program, we’ve transformed more than 3,600 lbs of locally-milled organic flour, 25 gallons of local honey, over 100 lbs of salt, and countless gallons of City of Durham water into bread on the table.

Our Vision

We envision a community and a world where every person has the right to food that is appropriate to that person and their culture, where our economy is based in love and solidarity, and where our food system is ecologically just, healing, and sustaining.

Purpose of the Campaign

Within the current food system and within capitalism, we've learned that it’s difficult to create an organization where workers are compensated enough to thrive AND where everyone, especially poor and working-class folks, can afford to eat. We are not willing to leave anybody out – not the members who eat our bread every day, not the bakers who bake our bread, not our neighbors who are hungry. This fall, we will be expanding our model so that we can pay our bakers a living wage, create a clearer worker cooperative structure, and continue to build our membership and access to bread. Here’s a breakdown of how we plan to spend the $10,000:

• $8,500 will go to support bakers' salaries during this 4-month period. This money guarantees at least a minimum wage salary while we experiment with different ways of bringing in money and resources to the bakery.
• $500 will go to new equipment – smallwares to help us start some of our new baking projects.
• $500 will cover the cost of testing new ingredients and recipes as we work to broaden our repertoire of offerings.
• $500 will go towards training and education for the worker-owners.

We need your help!
Please donate whatever you can to make our vision possible!

If you can't donate at this time, but want to keep in touch with the bakery, join our mailing list!

Your support is vital – thank you so much!