Well 2021 was a wild year, with blockades, beacons, and lock-ons aplenty! More can be read about those here or seen here. Animal Rebellion did a fantastic job in showing McDonalds, Arla (The UK’s biggest dairy producer,) and even the British government where they’re going wrong! With that in mind we wanted to invite the meat, dairy, and fishing industries to make some resolutions of their own to secure a just and sustainable plant-based future!

Let’s start it off nice and simple shall we? McDonald’s and Arla, this one’s for you (and other food and drink providers)! In fact it’s a resolution to make until 2025 and it is to  make a just and sustainable transition to 100% plant-based! Animal Rebellion is so excited to help in making  the change that we even used nonviolent direct action to speed you both along in 2021. In 2022 the resolution for the pair of you is to make genuine steps in that transition!

 We know why these resolutions are necessary, but perhaps you don’t? Firstly Mcdonald’s, your current food system relies on meat directly linked to Amazon deforestation . Even when your beef burgers don’t come from South America, methane emissions from the cattle are catastrophic. It’s simple, serving 100% plant-based options in your restaurants is the only way to just and sustainable practice.  The McPlant might be a start, but it’s certainly not going to be the end …

Onto Arla, why is ditching dairy and transitioning to being 100% plant-based by 2025 such a great resolution? Well for starters, dairy can use up to 29x more land, 22x more water, and produces  nearly 5x as many greenhouse gas emissions per litre when compared to plant-based options. The fact is, the most ‘sustainable’ dairy option is less sustainable than the ‘least sustainable’ plant-based one. If that’s not bad enough, areas with intensive dairy farming also experience horrific levels of water pollution due to spillage, dumping waste feed, and the surface run-off of waste or excrement from the herds. It’s clear that dairy is milking the planet. McDonald’s and Arla’s  resolution to transition to just and  sustainable plant-based production is looking pretty good to us …

Now let’s think of a resolution for the fishing industry! Instead of destroying oceans and coasts alike, resolve to a just and sustainable transition away and into other industries like aquatic plant-based options.  

Stopping fishing entirely is essential in order to preserve biodiversity and equilibrium in ocean ecosystems. In fact, depleting oceans of fish, and leaving rubbish behind is driving algal blooms, reduced carbon-capture potential, and poisoning coastal communities. We think this is more than enough reason to give multinational fishing corporations the resolution to transition away from their destructive practices, and support their workers in seeking a future within a just and sustainable plant-based food system.

Thirdly, we have a helpful resolution for the British Government! If our banner on the Home Office building didn’t make it clear enough in October 2021, invest in a plant-based future! We know that the, roughly, £1.5 Billion yearly subsidies for industries like meat, dairy, and fish would be better used elsewhere! The British government must help its farmers make the just and sustainable transition to plant-based farming in order to secure the future. 

By helping ordinary farmers adopt Earth-friendly farming that they can rely on, the British government will be freeing up some 85% of land from inefficient meat and dairy production. Freeing this land for multiple uses including rewilding, plant-based farming, and renewable energy is a necessity to mitigate the worst impacts of climate breakdown. 

Finally, not to just make resolutions for everyone else, Animal Rebellion would like to make a resolution for ourselves! That is to refuse to quit in our mission to secure a just and sustainable plant-based food system, thereby halting mass extinction, alleviating the worst effects of climate breakdown and ensuring justice for animals. Whether it’s on social media, from a beacon or helping university students campaign, we promise we’ll be there fighting for the future of all life!

If you’d like to get involved in helping any of these resolutions come true then fill out our interest form below or get in touch via any social media! There is something for anyone to do within Animal Rebellion!

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/animal-rebellion-volunteer-submissions

1.  _{https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/leading-burger-supplier-sourced-from-amazon-farmer-guilty-of-deforestation}
2. _{https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/27/whats-the-beef-with-cows-and-the-climate-crisis}
3. _{Nemecek. T and Poore. J, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” Science 360, issue 6392 (June 2018): 987-992.}
4.  _{https://sentientmedia.org/milk-pollution-in-rivers/}
5. _{Salazar. Cesar, Jaime. Marcela and Quiroga. Miguel, “Transition Patterns of Fishermen and Farmers into Seaweed Small-Scale Aquaculture: The Role of Risk and Time Preferences,” EfD Discussion Paper Series (2020,) p. 3-20.}
6. _{https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salt-water-fish-extinction-seen-by-2048/}
7. _{https://www.science.org/content/article/united-kingdom-embark-agricultural-revolution-break-eu-farm-subsidies}
8.  _{De Ruiter. Henri, et al, “Total global agricultural land footprint associated with UK food supply 1986–2011,” Global Environmental Change 43 (2017,) p. 72-81.}

The post 2022: Some New Year’s Resolutions For a Plant-Based Future first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

In fact, an entirely plant-based planet is not as far away as many may think. As more and more people become aware of the environmental footprint of animal products and the suffering involved in their production, plant-based diets are rapidly becoming more popular all around the globe. Earlier this year in January, a record half a million Brits signed up to Veganuary, a campaign which inspires people to eat vegan for January and throughout the rest of the year. It is projected that vegans and vegetarians will make up a quarter of the British population by 2025. 

That’s not all. In Latin America and the Caribbean 8% of the population identify as vegetarian or vegan and in Mexico  this figure is at a staggering 20%. In the United States, the number of Americans following plant-based diets has risen by nearly 9.6 million over the last 15 years, a 300% increase. It’s safe to say support for a plant-based food system is widespread and growing rapidly. We are well and truly on the way to a plant-based world, but how would a plant-based food system be beneficial to our planet?

It’s no secret that animal agriculture is one of the very largest polluters on Earth. An Oxford University report concluded that if the world were to follow plant based diets, food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050! Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide would all plummet, giving us a much better chance at fighting off climate catastrophe and ensuring our survival on Earth. 

This drop in pollution would help us avoid extreme weather disasters, as the report highlights that a plant based food system could avoid climate-related damages of $1.5 trillion US dollars. In addition to a considerable drop in greenhouse gas emissions, a plant-based food system would help us to limit air pollution levels, water pollution and would be a chance for our forests, species and biodiversity to thrive again. With animal agriculture responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction, its replacement with a plant-based food system would see deforestation in the Amazon and around the world fall dramatically.

Via Pexel Felix Mittermeier

A plant-based food system would see an end to the eating of animals and their products for food. We would no longer raise and kill the billions of land and aquatic animals we currently consume. Slaughterhouses would cease to exist. Billions of animals would be spared a life in factory farms and premature deaths. A plant-based food system would undoubtedly make the world a fairer, and more just place for animals. 

Extending this compassion to marine life and halting seafood consumption and fishing would give marine populations the time they desperately need to recover. Our oceans absorb far more C02 than the Amazon rainforest, with about 93% stored in their waters. Not only do oceans absorb almost all of the Earth’s excess heat, but they provide up to 85% of the world’s oxygen. Intense industrial fishing and pollution are jeopardising this natural balance so much so that we could potentially see the extinction of all sea life.  A plant-based food system would be an important step to helping our oceans to heal. 

Not only would life under a plant based food system be revolutionary for the health of our planet, but for our own health too! Plant-based diets are healthy and sustainable for people at all stages of life, as they provide all necessary nutrition and do not contain many of the disease-causing properties found in animal products. Under a plant-based food system, people all around the world would undoubtedly lead longer and happier lives, and would potentially be free from many of the major diseases and conditions millions suffer from today.

In addition, a plant based food system would help ensure that everyone on Earth has access to nutritious, healthy food. On a plant-based planet, world hunger would practically cease to exist. Rearing animals for food consumption requires 83% of our total farmland, but produces only 18% of our caloric intake. Under this incredibly inefficient system we have billions of farm animals who are well or even over-fed, whilst the majority of the world’s population goes hungry.  

Via Pexel Johannes Plenio

Converting the land we use for animal farming and animal crops to growing plant foods for the population would virtually put an end to world hunger. With almost half the world’s land freed up, we would have the chance to use it for other purposes and would have more than enough space to rewild large parts of the planet, allowing once industrialised terrain to become teaming with life. 

A world with a plant-based food system would undoubtedly be a better place for people, animals and the planet itself. We need to start the transition to a plant-based food system and we need to do it now! We’ve seen how much better a world it could be, why not join us in fighting for it? Find a role which suits you here and help us get one step closer to a plant-based world! 

The post How a just and sustainable plant-based food system could change the world first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

She innovates. When you first encountered her, she was so shy she hid herself beneath an improvised shield. Discreet, she scrutinised you with one of her keen eyes. Always eager to learn, perhaps she wondered: are you a threat?

Plunging in clear water to clear your mind from the chaos of the world, and here you are – meeting her. Entering her world of mesmerizing colours and diverse communities. Slowly, you build trust with her. Day by day, you both become closer. You let her hold your hand… 

She becomes your teacher.

As she is an octopus and you are a human, she teaches you how to relate to other creatures. You slow down to notice the traces of each and every animal1, the diversity of the environment. In the three dimensions of the South African ocean, you learn to reconnect with your own inner animal as the rift between the animal and you narrows. You discover that you too belong to the natural world.

She was striking, a tiny creature full of wonderful arms, and you became enthralled. Because she was the only one of her species, she stood out and you saw her as one of a kind. You saw schools of fish since you conceptualised them as a group, not individuals. You perceived the individuality of this octopus.

You spent time with her, got to know her and her temperament. Through your daily encounters you created a cross-species bond like you had never encountered before. She was living in such a different world, she had neurons in her arms, no bones, and still she was witty. How strange is it that you had to dive so far away from your comfort zone to connect with another animal to such a deep extent?

A surprising relationship.

From over 20 years of filming documentaries, and living in a divide between most humans and other animals, between our civilisation and what we distantly call « nature », Craig Foster became depressed. The documentary maker was scuba diving into the eerie forests of kelp to heal his soul. Deep under the sea, the octopus taught him he was part of the natural world. For she has purpose, can fear and love, she is an actress in her environment. My octopus teacher, a 2021 Oscar winner documentary, tells their story.

« A lot of people say an octopus is like an alien. But the strange thing is, as you get closer to them, you realize that we’re very similar in a lot of ways. » Craig Foster

Octopuses have an exquisite ability to camouflage and communicate through their skin coloration and changes in texture and shape. After she disappeared for several days, Foster acted like a detective and investigated where she could live, looking for traces of her movements. When finally he spotted her, it is as if he had metaphorically rejoined « nature » and the animal kingdom; he was embedded in the environment. He was not a visitor anymore when she chose to develop a bond with him.

We are a social species where trust is deeply important. Cephalopods live very different lives from ours, swimming, alone, dying at one year old, before their babies hatch. Yet we share with them this curiosity for another being, a capacity to learn and be playful. What is more beautiful than the trust and curiosity of another being that experiences the world through a strikingly different nervous system?

His deepest joy is feeling the trust of the octopus, this tiny wild mollusc, towards him.

Sentient animals are individuals.

This film shows that if humans can relate to a mollusc, then surely we could relate to pigs, chickens and fishes who have far more similar nervous systems to us and who, like us, can feel emotions.

From a distance, we only see a school of fish, a flock of sheep or a factory farm full of chickens. Yet far from being a mass of indistinguishable creatures, animals are individuals. This intuition has often become lost by the human domination of other animal species, the disconnect from the natural world and consistent exploitation of animals for money. Yet, we can rekindle it. We all share emotions, the possibility to move and make decisions, and the desire to live. Each animal wants to be free of suffering. Should we kill animals who want to live when we can thrive on plant-based food ? Absolutely not.

Let’s switch the narrative from resources to conscious beings.

Increasingly, movies portray animals as relatable characters with goals and aspirations, while keeping them different from humans. “Babe” pioneered the representation of farm animals with a piglet making decisions and, crucially, making friends. In “Finding Nemo”, we root for a father clown fish as he embarks on a quest to rescue his son. In “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”, a horse refuses to let go of his hope to find back his freedom and loved ones. These movies depict animals as creatures who differ from one another, who forge relationships and memories through painful and happy moments.

We need more trust, compassion and empathy. We can learn so much by simply slowing down and observing closely. The octopus taught us friendship extends across the frontiers of species. If we can relate to a mollusk, surely we can relate to animals who have a spinal cord, such as pigs or salmon. We need to reconnect with other animals and see them as individuals rather than concepts. Let’s learn from individuals from other species.

Anti-speciesism challenges the prevailing status of non-human animals, where speciesism is the belief that humans are superior to non-human animals and therefore can be exploited. You can watch our talk about anti-speciesism and the fight for global climate justice. Together, let’s build a world fair for all animals.

What’s coming next?

On the 31st of October, the COP26 started, the UN Climate Change Conference which aims to speed up changes we must implement to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Despite causing at least 18% of global greenhouse gas emission, animal agriculture and fishing are rarely challenged,  or even mentioned in the COP26 goals. The governments can choose to transition away from a system that kills billions of animals and destroys the planet and build a just and sustainable plant-based system. You can join on the ground or remotely. We need everyone to rise as massive waves to create a kinder, more sustainable world!

Volunteer to help build the rebellion.

1: Here « animal » to refer to non-human animals that feel emotions (scientific evidence are compelling for birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and cephalopods) to make it more accessible and easy to read.

The post How does one octopus teach us to reconnect with animals? first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

ANIMAL REBELLION CAMPAIGNERS SCALE DEFRA IN CLIMATE CHANGE PROTEST AHEAD OF COP26

• Animal Rebellion protestors have scaled the face of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) building amid calls for a plant-based future
• The climate and animal movement are demanding the UK government ‘defund meat’ by investing in plant-based alternatives instead, to mitigate climate change and reduce animal suffering
• They say the action is a clear message to world leaders attending COP26 later this month, urging them to step up if they hope to make real change 
• Link to photos

Animal Rebellion campaigners have scaled the front of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) building to demand an end to government subsidies for meat and dairy in a protest against climate change.

The protesters climbed the building in the early hours of this morning, unveiling a banner that reads “COP26: Invest in a Plant-Based Future”. Animal Rebellion says they intend to remain on the building, suspended in hammocks, until UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledges to cut all taxpayer support for animal agriculture and promises to urge all world leaders to do the same when they attend the COP26 summit later this week. 

Animal Rebellion spokesperson Nathan McGovern said: “The UK Government is simultaneously saying that it is a world leader in climate change whilst propping up the unsustainable and unprofitable meat and dairy industry, one that emits disproportionate amounts of greenhouse gases. This hypocrisy has to end – we need to defund meat and subsidise plant-based alternatives instead.”

The UK government spends at least £1.5 billion a year subsidising livestock farming, ten times the UK’s annual budget for planting trees (see Notes to Editors for calculations). Meanwhile, despite a global explosion in demand for planet-friendly alternative proteins, the UK has only committed £90m in research and development to this sector. 

As part of the campaign, Animal Rebellion is demanding the government subsidise plant-based foods instead, as recommended by the National Food Strategy, as a “positive action to protect the planet for future generations and end the unnecessary suffering of billions of animals every year.” 

The National Food Strategy, who conducted the first independent review of the UK food system in 75 years, advised the government to invest £1 billion into food system innovation, with £125 million set aside for innovation into alternative proteins to replace meat, dairy and eggs. 

The government-commissioned report tackles the nation’s meat consumption, stating: “Our current appetite for meat is unsustainable. Plant-based proteins produce 70 times less greenhouse gas emissions than an equivalent amount of beef, and use 150 times less land.”

The report also mentions the economic benefits of the alternative protein industry, claiming that up to 10,000 new jobs could be created in the UK by investing in this growing sector. It adds that, if we don’t act soon, we could lose out on “new green jobs” and become net importers of these products.

Finally, it addresses the myth that free-range, grass-fed and regenerative livestock is greener, stating: “The more intensively you rear some animals, the more carbon-efficient they tend to be.”

In the UK, livestock grazers are largely dependent on public subsidies with around 90% of their profits coming from taxpayers pockets. Experts believe that 85% of the UK’s total land footprint is associated with meat and dairy production. 

Notes to editors:

– The UK spends £3bn a year on farming subsidies of which at least half £1.5bn is spent on livestock. According to Greenpeace around half of European farming subsidies across Europe go to livestock farming. With 85% of the UK’s land footprint associated with meat and dairy the figure is actually likely to be much higher in the UK, but no precise figures exist.  

– The UK’s Net Zero Strategy published last week pledges £750m to be spent on the Nature for Climate Fund by 2025: this was first announced in the March 2020 budget. Across the five years 2020-25 that’s £150m per year on tree planting or roughly 1/10th of the annual budget for subsidising animal agriculture. 

To find out more about Animal Rebellion and start taking action for our planet, click here.

Email: pressoffice@animalrebellion.org

Animal Rebellion Web Page | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter 

Contacts:

• Nathan (on ground)
• Hazel (back office)
• Joel (back office)

The post Animal Rebellion Campaigners Scale DEFFRA In Climate Change Protest Ahead Of COP26 first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 26, will be kicking off in a week´s time, where world leaders will meet to discuss how they plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, an ambitious target which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said will require drastic action.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. The eyes of the world will be watching with many desperate to see real commitment and a sense of urgency from those with the most power to stop the breakdown of our climate. At this COP, many are especially eager to see world leaders discuss each and every driver of climate change as, bizarrely, a leading cause of global warming has been painfully absent during numerous climate change conferences over the last decade.

Governments all over the world have failed to acknowledge Animal Agriculture as a major cause of global warming and have failed to propose a transition to a sustainable, plant-based food system despite there being urgent need. Without this transition we have no chance of meeting the Paris Agreement targets, or any sort of target at all. Indeed, even if the burning of fossil fuels ceased this instant, the environmental damage of the animal farming industry would be enough to raise temperatures well above 1.5 degrees and jeopardize human life. 

Aside from being one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases on Earth, the animal agriculture industry is a leading cause of air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, species extinction, habitat loss and ocean dead-zones. Raising animals for food already occupies at least a third of the Earth’s surface and uses up to a third of our freshwater supply, making it one of the most resource-draining industries in existence. The high amounts of animal flesh consumed in our societies are resulting in the destruction of our planet, with extreme levels of land and air pollution and the ocean expected to be void of life in less than three decades. 

Yet the industry continues to thrive, almost entirely unchallenged, with the demand for meat expected to double by 2040, and animal agriculture emissions projected to increase by 80% by 2050.  Not only is this going on unchallenged, but, in fact, is encouraged and paid for all over the world through government subsidies. Globally, the vast majority of agriculture subsidies go to animal farms and farmers growing animal feed. 

In the UK, around 90% of the annual profit of famers who graze land mammals comes from agriculture subsidies. It’s a similar story in the US, where, in 2020, $50 billion was used to subsidise and bail out farmers, almost all of whom were meat, dairy milk and animal feed production firms. The reality is that our tax money is being used to drive down the prices of environmentally destructive food, which are precisely the ones which should have the highest price tag of all. 

Governments must stop propping up failing, environmentally damaging industries and begin to help those rearing animals to convert to a healthy and sustainable type of farming. Governments must acknowledge the undeniable truth that we cannot continue to eat how we currently eat and begin the transition to a just and sustainable plant based food system. 

But will they? Many are skeptical. COP26 has failed to confirm whether they will discuss the need to reduce intensive animal farming or the discussion of animal agriculture as a whole. They also have failed to answer queries on whether a plant based menu will be offered to conference attendees.

In addition, with less than two weeks to the summit, a UK government report from the Behavioural Insights Unit outlining the importance of plant based eating in the fight against climate change was swiftly deleted. The report showed what aspects of public behaviour need changing in order to hit climate targets. We can see that Governments have the knowledge they need to fight climate change but are simply not doing anything with it, notably because, “asking people to directly eat less meat and dairy is a major political challenge”, as stated in the report. This would seem to be an example of politicians choosing to value their political careers and popularity more than the greater good, but what the world desperately needs is governments who tell the truth and act with urgency to change the systems that are causing so much harm.

However, we do have some reason to be hopeful. A group of UK MPs are calling for an end to animal agriculture and showing support for the Plant Based Treaty. This treaty aims to halt the destruction caused by animal agriculture and promote a global shift to sustainable plant-based eating. In addition to support from numerous politicians around the globe, the treaty has so far been endorsed by 396 Organizations and 201 Businesses. 

Ahead of the conference, a group of celebrity plant-based advocates, including Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Elish and Alan Cumming have sent an urgent letter to Right Honorable Alok Sharma, the conference’s president, demanding that animal agriculture be on the agenda.

Environmental groups around the world will be watching closely to see if politicians use the precious time they have left to negotiate change and begin a transition away from animal agriculture to limit global warming. As weather patterns become more extreme and life on Earth becomes more about surviving, there may be few of these opportunities left. Until then, Animal Rebellion will continue to highlight the overwhelming role of animal agriculture in the climate crisis and the urgent need to transition to a plant based food system.

Together, we can work to ensure that governments tell the truth, act now and listen to the people. Join us to help encourage a shift to a just and sustainable plant based food system. Learn more about how to volunteer and which role might suit you!

The post Why Animal Agriculture must be on the COP 26 agenda first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Animal Rebellion

31/08/21 – 22PM

BREAKING : POLICE DENY BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AT ARLA BLOCKADE

• UK’s largest dairy factory shut down for more than 19 hours
• Police have denied the protesters’ basic rights such as food, shelter and medications
• Over 350 arrests have happened during the ‘Impossible Rebellion’ around London

During the early morning hours, 50 climate activists from Animal Rebellion began the blockade of an Arla factory, in Aylesbury. They are demanding the largest dairy producer in the UK to go plant-based by 2025 and to fund a just transition for its workers.

The first protesters were taken away around noon, as police cutting teams arrived on site and removed activists from one of the bamboo structures. All protestors were removed from blockades by 10:30pm after almost 20 hours. The group then camped at the site overnight.

30 protesters were locked-on to stop the production and distribution of dairy and expose the impact of dairies and the need to swiftly transition to plant based production. The protestors expressed that they intended to hold the blockade, until Arla responded to their demand. Non-violent demonstrators were prepared with tents and food; however, they report the police denied their basic rights. They began by separating the activists who were locked-on from supporters.

Animal Rebellion shared via Twitter, “At around 10am, police began erecting a cordon around lock-ons and are refusing to allow access to wellbeing to ‘rebels’ in the blockade.”

Police then further violated the rights of the protesters by taking away their food and shelter.

“They have stolen a sandwich from one of our locked-on rebels”, said social media posts from spokespeople, “And have now removed umbrellas and tarps off lock-ons and taped off the blockade from all supporters, including those providing first aid and wellbeing.”

Animal Rebellion says spirits are high despite heavy policing. These maneuvers follow the arrest of over 350 climate protesters in London during the ‘Impossible Rebellion’, including the raid of activists’ home and their posterior arrest on Sunday and the arrest of 36 people during the occupation of a Central McDonald’s last week.

LINK TO PHOTOS

The post Breaking: Police Deny Basic Human Rights At ARLA Blockade first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Animal Rebellion Press Release

31st 08 2021

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS BLOCKADE UK’S BIGGEST MILK FACTORY CALLING FOR AN END TO DAIRY

LINK TO PICTURE FILE

• 50 climate activists from Animal Rebellion have blockaded the largest dairy factory in the UK

• Arla supplies 10% of UK milk and 2.7 million litres a day

In the early hours of this morning, protestors occupied the distribution centre of Arla Foods, the multinational company who are one of the largest manufacturers of dairy in the world. 30 activists are locked onto bamboo structures and concrete barricades. The factory provides 10% of the milk supply for the UK with 150 vehicles delivering raw milk each day and 1.1 billion litres being produced every year. 

Animal Rebellion is a non-violent movement which has previously gained attention for using civil disobedience to demand that companies transition to a plant-based food system. They are calling on Arla to transition to plant-based production by 2025 to address the catastrophic impacts dairy production has on the climate and animals. Protestors have stated they plan to continue blockading the factory until Arla makes a commitment to end dairy production and fund a just transition for its workers. 

James Ozden, a spokesperson for Animal Rebellion, said about the blockade: “The recent IPCC report issued a code red warning on the impacts of the climate crisis. It spoke of a need for urgent action from our government to address carbon emissions, including methane which is in large part a byproduct of animal farming. Companies like Arla claim to be leading the way in tackling the climate crisis, yet until these big multinationals start to talk seriously about the inevitable need to transition our food system to one that is plant-based, their words are empty.” 

Thirteen of the world’s largest dairy corporations, including Arla, together emitted more greenhouse gases in 2017 than major polluters BHP and ConocoPhillips, mining and oil giants respectively. In the next decade, extreme weather is expected to lead to unstable crop supplies for the 2.65 million dairy cows in the UK while higher temperatures will mean that dairy cows are expected to be exposed to heat stress for two extra months in the year. The climate crisis means that supplying the demand for cows’ milk will soon be simply unviable.

. 

“The dairy industry abuses animals, the planet and workers, who are increasingly squeezed by big business”, said Ozden, “Arla say they’re pro-worker but lobby for supermarket contracts that sell milk for less than water. We’re not just demanding that Arla go plant-based by 2025, we’re demanding that the government supports companies like Arla by funding a just transition for workers in meat and dairy industries to just and sustainable alternatives.”

What’s NEXT

Animal Rebellion is demanding that Arla go plant-based by 2025 and support a just transition for its workers.

Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system. Today’s events are part of the ‘Rebellion’ – two weeks of direct action demanding urgent action from the government on the climate and ecological emergency. 

Interview opportunities and photos

LINK TO PICTURE FILE

The post Climate Activists Blockade UK’s Biggest Milk Factory Calling For An End To Dairy first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Press Release: Animal Rebellion

Date: 28/08/21

ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS UNITE FOR MARCH THROUGH CENTRAL LONDON THIS SATURDAY AMIDST ‘AUGUST REBELLION’ 

• The march will depart from Smithfield Market and will have a circular route making symbolic stops at Unilever, Cargill and the Marine Stewardship Council
• Animal Rights marches in previous years have mobilised thousands of people 
• This demonstration was organised by the group Animal Rebellion who will be joined by many other animal rights groups and activists

Animal Rights Activists will today come together for the National Animal Rights March, in London.The demonstration – which takes place during the ‘August Rebellion’ – brings together animal rights groups and activists across the UK to unite for animal justice and call for urgent action from corporations and the government to completely terminate human use and abuse of animals. 

The march is expected to be joined by thousands of people with a message of animal liberation, unity and hope for the future. 

“Animal Rights Marches have historically served as a space to celebrate and remember the trillions of animals killed and exploited by humans in the name of progress, tradition or entertainment, and we expect today to be no different,” said Claudia Penna Rojas, one of the speakers at the march. “By coming together we can vision the world we want to see, provide space for grief and despair as well as a catalyst to commit to further action and change.”

Speeches will be delivered by respected figures from the animal liberation movements and experts in various fields relevant to animal rights.  These include: Mel Broughton, founder of SPEAK campaign against vivisection; Dr Alice Brough, renowned pig veterinarian and activist; Tim Bailey, environmental scientist and one of the UK’s most prominent farm regulatory pollution experts, and Dr Laila Kassam, ​​co-founder of Animal Think Tank, a grassroots organisation building a social movement for Animal Freedom in the UK.

Stops along the circular route will include Smithfield Market, Unilever, Cargill and the Marine Stewardship Council, which are corporations and institutions historically related to animal exploitation and abuse. The reasons behind why these locations were chosen are explained here:

• Smithfield Market has been previously occupied by Animal Rebellion in October 2019, making the choice of location symbolic for the group
• Why we are we marching to Unilever

• Why we are marching to Cargill
• Why we don’t believe in the Marine Stewardship Council’s ‘mission’,  ‘sustainable fishing’

Harley McDonald-Eckersall, a spokesperson from Animal Rebellion, the organisers of this year’s march, said: “Humans kill over 70 billion land mammals every single year. We drain the oceans of trillions of fish, all in the name of profit and a meal for us to consume. After decades of deception and lies from massive corporations, there is almost no facet of our life that does not profit from the exploitation of animals in some way. We must come together and unite for animal justice to say no more to testing, no more to the fur trade and no more to slaughter. We need to imagine and create a world based on freedom and justice for all animals.” 

Animal Rebellion have previously gained attention for their actions and campaigns drawing attention to the environmental impacts of animal agriculture, but say that, for this day, they are focusing on the need to unite for animal justice.

The March starts at 12:30 at Smithfield Meat Market, which will also serve as the end point of the march. 

The National Animal Rights Facebook event can be found here: https://fb.me/e/Ql759ESC

The post Animal Rights Groups Unite For March Through Central London Amidst “August Rebellion” first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Animal Rebellion occupied the headquarters of Cargill in London during the 2019 Rebellion to ask them to tell the truth and act now about the climate and animal emergency. In March 2020, Animal Rebellion Turtle Island united with other groups in a global day action to call Cargill out. This August 2021, Animal Rebellion is uniting with animal liberation and other groups from across the country to stand in solidarity with the trillions of animal and fish killed yearly. 

We are marching together as allies with non-human animals. 

Message to Cargill

Cargill family: you have perhaps more power than any company, past or present, to either destroy the planet or lead the transition to the only form of a just, sustainable food-system there is: a plant-based one.

The world needs you to #ActNow! Start now the transition to just and sustainable plant-based agriculture. Will you join us today on the right side of history?

Cargill, whilst remaining little-known, has grown to be one of the largest traders of commodities for the animal-agricultural industry. Over the last 130 years, Cargill has become the largest worldwide producer of the grain-based feed for farmed animals and the third-largest “meat processing” company in the world. As of 2019, their agri-business was the largest food-conglomerate in the world. 

Astonishingly, all this makes Cargill directly accountable for: the life and death of billions of commoditised animals every year; for a critical amount of deforestation, air and water pollution; for the wellbeing of the animals fed their grains and ‘processed’ by their plants; for the welfare of millions of humans that work within their supply chains; and for the health of billions more humans that consume the animal products that Cargill directly and indirectly profits from.

Until now, though Cargill is the largest family-owned business in the world, they have managed to oversee a strategy of keeping a deliberately low-profile. But today, Animal Rebellion is asking Cargill to act now and help undo the destruction they have already caused.

McDonald’s supplier

This year we’ve shone light on the on-going issues McDonald’s needs to tackle. McDonald’s is Cargill’s largest customer. Cargill boasts proudly about the seven awards it has received from McDonald’s for their economical, environmental and ethical achievements.  This is just a bad joke. Cargill’s role is well-hidden to the public eye, but it is raising and killing the chickens that McDonalds sell. The silent giant is also selling soya to McDonald’s for chicken and cow feed, unscrupulously deforesting habitats for millions of animals across South America. 

This big corporation must take action now instead of hiding their misdoings, playing for the interests of a few billionaires at the expense of trillions of animals and people. Cargill need to stop pretending to go green and actually make decisions that protect all animals and the planet. They have the power to make big advances globally by transitioning to a just and sustainable plant-based food system. 

Deforestation

Animal farming relies on about 75% of the world’s soy — of which Cargill are the largest producer and which is fed to the animals slaughtered in their farms. Globally more than 1,000,000 square kilometres — three times the size of Germany — is dedicated just to growing soy fed to animals raised for meat. 

Cargill must own up to the destruction of rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands that have contributed significantly to the disruption of hydrological cycles, as well as the destruction of the habitats of many wild animals.

In 2014 Cargill signed a landmark deal with 150 other countries, businesses and civil society organisations, pledging to eliminate deforestation by 2020. However, years on from that and Cargill continue to expand its operation into new, pristine forest outside the Brazilian Amazon. Furthermore, they actively resist the extension of the deforestation-free production agreements into these areas. Cargill has pushed the deadline to end deforestation to 2030, but the animals that inhabit the forest can’t wait that long. How long will Cargill fail to meet their targets? 

Cargill as changemakers

While clinging to its identity as a ‘traditional animal protein’ company, Cargill has invested in plant-based protein producers (such as the pea-protein supplier to Beyond Meat). Does this investment recognise the importance of plant based alternatives to meat or is it only a money-making investmnet?  If Cargill can genuinely recognise the importance of these alternatives, they could have an enormous impact on animal justice. 

Cargill’s food competitors:  Tyson Foods, Maple Leaf Foods and Smithfield Food have taken steps to create their own meat free products. By making similar changes in the way they operate, Cargill could have an enormous impact in reducing and even eradicating the number of animals killed for meat.

Today, people are more informed about the sentience of farmed animals. We know that they are individuals whose lives matter. We are faced with data and numbers that demonstrate the daily massacre of harmless animals. Cargill recently altered their slaughter process for chickens at their London plant, reducing the distress experienced by these sentient beings in response to welfare concerns. Yet, this is not enough. Today, we say that listening to the general public can only mean spearheading a global shift towards a plant-based food system.

Cargill: you have enormous influence over today’s food and agricultural systems and over the companies that work within it! Crucially, you have a massive impact on the existence and habitat quality of billions of animals. We now know that a plant-based food system is the only system that can ensure animal justice. With your investments and your infrastructure, the scale of change necessary is possible.

What’s next:

Click going to the National Animal Rights March on 28th August and get more information on the Facebook event here.

Learn more about how Unilever, another stop during the march, needs to change now for animal justice. We also march to the Marine Stewardship Council to stand for fishes and other sentient aquatic animals. Where is the compassion for sentient marine animals in the fishing industry?

To get ready for the Rebellion, you can do trainings with Extinction Rebellion, a movement with whom we act in solidarity. You can check out our events and trainings here. 

Useful links:

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The post Cargill Family, A Historic Choice is upon You: Planetary Destruction or Animal and Climate Justice? first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

26th August 2021

Animal and climate protesters dye Buckingham Palace fountains blood red

LINK TO PICTURE FILE

Climate and animal activists have dyed the iconic Buckingham Palace fountains blood red in a protest against use of crown land for hunting and animal agriculture.

Harley McDonald-Eckersall, a spokesperson for Animal Rebellion said: “The crown estate is the biggest landowner in the UK and they choose to use this land for animal agriculture and hunting, which not only decimate our environment but cause the deaths of millions of lives every year. It’s time for a new system based on justice and compassion and the royal family should be leading the way.”

The action comes after a recent report found that “The Queen’s lawyers secretly lobbied Scottish ministers to change a draft law to exempt her private land from a major initiative to cut carbon emissions.” The royal family have been protested by animal rights groups in the past because of their support of hunting, racing and the fur trade, which the group highlights as being a motivator for the protest, alongside animal agriculture. 

“Crown land should be used to grow healthy, nutritious food for all and to provide homes for the animals we share this country with,” Said McDonald-Eckersall. “We are demanding that the Queen end the use of crown land for industries which are contributing to the climate and ecological emergency and the death of animals.”

The action was undertaken by participants during the Rebellion which unites climate activists to demand urgent government action on the climate and ecological emergency. 

What’s Next?

Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system. Today’s events are part of the ‘Rebellion’ – two weeks of direct action demanding urgent action from the government on the climate and ecological emergency. To find out more about what we are planning for the next week, visit our website now.

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