On the one hand, the RSPCA does great work in terms of pet and wildlife welfare. It states: “Everything we do is focused on achieving our vision to live in a world where all animals are respected and treated with compassion”. In 2020, the RSPCA investigated over 57,000 complaints of animal cruelty.

However, there is a major disconnect between its goals and its stance on meat and dairy. I often had to defend my involvement with the RSPCA (the branch did excellent work locally), particularly when talking to others who, like me, have adopted a plant-based diet. 

The criticisms typically centred on the RSPCA’s unwillingness to align its policies and actions with the climate crisis and the welfare of farmed animals. 

I was one of a three-person Animal Rebellion delegation to visit the RSPCA’s headquarters at the end of April. One of the others was Jane Tredgett, a former national trustee of the RSPCA, who had been trying to get the charity to reform for more than a decade, alongside our wonderful Animal Rebellion spokesperson, Harley McDonald-Eckersall.

The three of us were calling on the RSPCA on behalf of Animal Rebellion to publicly acknowledge that our food system cannot protect or respect animals and is a major contributor to the climate crisis, as a result of which millions of people and animals are already suffering. 

The RSPCA clearly knows there is a problem here. 

One of those to meet with us was the RSPCA’s director of advocacy and policy, Emma Slawinski. In a COP26 blog, Emma wrote: “Reducing the number of animals being farmed globally – and the amount of meat, eggs and dairy being consumed – should be a key focus of any discussion on climate change.”

She noted that the topic of livestock reduction was almost totally absent at COP26. She continued: “Animals are majorly impacted by the changes in the environment caused by human activity. Alongside the alarming figures around the extinction of species, we see individual suffering writ large in the destruction of habitats, water scarcity and extreme weather events.”

So where are the RSPCA policies that align with this?

Unlike the RSPCA, our position is clear.

From a moral and logistical perspective, meat, dairy and fishing are no longer justifiable. Meat and dairy are the third largest emitters of greenhouse gases and fishing (particularly industrial fishing) is largely unregulated and responsible for species extinction and enormous amounts of waste and pollution. 

And clearly the climate emergency is upon us – if we don’t make significant changes in the next few years then the level of warming we’re facing in this generation will be catastrophic, not to mention what comes after that. 

What We’re Asking

The RSPCA has a significant platform and trust from the public. It is also nearing a major milestone, its 200^th anniversary. When it was formed, it was on the cutting edge of animal protection, founded by brave people who put themselves on the line to do what was right and just. 

Somewhere during those 200 years, the RSPCA lost its boldness. Its culture became one of conservatism, not wanting to upset people, not willing to come out and do what is right, and reluctant to challenge the meat and dairy industry. 

Far from advocating a fair transition to a plant-based food system, it provides a cover of respectability to the meat, egg and dairy industries through its pretty woeful RSPCA Assured scheme. The RSPCA Assured scheme website even includes chicken, egg, pork, turkey and other recipes – https://www.rspcaassured.org.uk/recipes/ The RSPCA’s staff canteen isn’t even plant-based. 

The Assured logo – producers have to pay to be accredited – lulls consumers into thinking the food they are buying is farmed to high animal welfare standards. In fact, the bar set by the RSPCA is incredibly low (e.g indoors, farms can have 19 chickens/m2 of available floor space) and the accreditation criteria are peppered with worthless words, such as “encouraged to”. You can read the whole sorry lot of criteria here: https://science.rspca.org.uk/sciencegroup/farmanimals/standards The argument is that an Assured scheme is better than nothing. As ambitions go, that’s pretty lame.

If we made a fair transition to a plant-based food system then there would be no need for the Assured scheme. 

We believe that the RSPCA can recapture the bravery of its founders. The crises that we face mean large, influential entities such as this need to lead, be bold and speak the truth.

Unfortunately, after two weeks of waiting, all we had back from the RSPCA were woolly words, with absolutely no commitment to take action to shift its policies. We are now planning next steps in this campaign – watch this space.

At the heart of rebellion is a belief that change is possible. It’s time to stand up. And Animal Rebellion’s stance is clear: will take action until there is climate and animal justice and a transition to a fair, sustainable plant-based food system. The RSPCA must join this movement for a better world. 

The post The RSPCA: What’s not to like? first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

So what’s wrong? Well, where do you start? The need to transition to a plant-based system to counter the climate crisis applies to the oceans as it does to the land. For 20+ years, the MSC has been propping up and providing a sheen of respectability to the fishing industry. The MSC’s “blue tick” certification label now spans 400+ fisheries, representing around 15% of all global fish landings.

There is plenty of money sloshing around this scheme. Fisheries pay fees of $20,000 to $500,000 for an assessment from Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). Indeed, the cost of certification ironically often excludes small-scale fisheries from applying. The MSC also charges retailers royalties of up to 0.5% of the net wholesale value of seafood sold, for using its label. Around 80% (£23.6m) of MSC’s funding comes from licensing income.

It’s not difficult to see a glaring conflict of interest. And there have been plenty of people who have pointed out the flaws in the MSC model. If the nets of MSC-certified fisheries had as many gaping holes as the MSC scheme itself, then no fish would be caught in them at all.

Scores of organisations have highlighted that the MSC’s certification process does not properly account for by-catch, particularly of sharks and cetaceans.

For a long while, MSC allowed vessels to catch both certified and non- certified fish in the same fishing trip, with this only dropped after intense pressure from advocacy group, On the Hook. The 2021 documentary, Seaspiracy, particularly had MSC in its sights and the response by the charity was woeful. The film’s director, Ali Tabrizi, questioned the NGO’s independence owing to its funding and is shown repeatedly failing to secure an interview with MSC to answer the criticisms.

There was a backlash to the documentary from the MSC and other industry interests after it was aired. But Seaspiracy wasn’t making up the criticisms. One contributor to the documentary was Callum Roberts, professor of marine conservation at the University of Exeter. He accused MSC of certifying fisheries that had “astounding levels of by-catch” and said the MSC label was not “worth a damn in some cases”.

The fishing industry hides behind the certification, as do the supermarkets, with consumers duped into thinking there is such a thing as sustainable fishing and that the certification means they are doing the right thing.

The MSC needs to actually take the word in its title – “Stewardship” – seriously. It needs to extract itself from the hopelessly flawed symbiotic relationship with the industry. It must accept that sustainable fishing is a contradiction in terms. And it needs to pivot to supporting a fair and just end to fishing as a vital component of a plant-based food system. Until then, Animal Rebellion will expose its hypocrisy at every opportunity.

The post The Marine Stewardship Council: A flawed sheen of respectability for an industry in denial first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

• Protestors from Animal Rebellion have prevented trucks from leaving at London’s last remaining slaughterhouse in Hackney Wick, disrupting its operation
• The group have climbed onto the truck and are demanding the slaughterhouse shut down
• This action is part of local campaign Gardens not Slaughterhouses which wants to see the location transformed into community gardens

Animal Rebellion campaigners are calling for an end to the last slaughterhouse in London in a protest against climate change and animal suffering. Early this morning, Gardens Not Slaughterhouses campaigners blocked the trucks coming out of the Kedassia chicken slaughterhouse in East London, disrupting its operations. The protestors have climbed an empty truck, preventing it from leaving. Those involved said that they waited for the chickens to be taken inside before blockading the entrance so as to not prolong their suffering, but are now disrupting the operations of Kedassia slaughterhouse.

Miranda Whelan, a spokesperson for Animal Rebellion, said “We need to build a just and sustainable future by replacing slaughterhouses, which kill gentle and intelligent animals and damage the environment, with community gardens. Gardens improve the wellbeing of the local people and allow them to grow healthy, sustainable food. We are demanding that Kedassia shut down and let this land be used for something that will benefit the whole community.”

Animal agriculture contributes at least 18% of global emissions, 70% of agricultural emissions and up to 80% of global deforestation. Slaughterhouses also use high amounts of water – ‘between 6 and 30 cubic metres per tonne of product.’ Today’s action is part of a campaign to demand that it be replaced by a community garden, amidst local efforts to make London greener and more sustainable.

Every year in the UK, 950 million of the 1.1 billion land animals killed for food are birds. Kedassia, a slaughterhouse on Smeed Road in the borough of Tower Hamlets, kills thousands of chickens every week. Poultry slaughterhouses release large amounts of waste into the environment, found the Food and Agriculture Organisation, contaminating lands and and surface waters, causing a serious human-health risk. 

Bel Jacobs, a local resident, said “I’m a mother and I know that our kids need a space to learn how to grow vegetables, not kill birds. Community gardens would give us a much-needed green space and a social hub where everyone can meet and connect.”

The protestors ensured that no chickens were inside the truck when it was stopped, to avoid prolonging the birds’ suffering.

Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system. To find out more about Animal Rebellion visit our website: https://animalrebellion.org/

Interview opportunities and photos

For interviews, photo opportunities or further information, contact the following spokespeople:

Bel Jacobs: 07 876 636 244 (at the action)

Oliver (Press Back Office): 07706 066859

Photos: https://show.pics.io/chickens-623a6ace4f3fa6001276307e

Email: pressoffice@animalrebellion.org

Website: animalrebellion.org

The post Protestors block London’s last slaughterhouse to demand community gardens first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

There’s no denying it – Meat & Dairy = Climate Crisis. We are facing a global catastrophe, the likes of which we have never experienced before. All life on earth is threatened but we still have the chance to transform our society and address the climate crisis by transitioning to a plant-based food system and ending all destructive industries.

Yet, there are organisations that, while claiming to protect the planet and respect all animals, are in fact propping up the very system that destroys our environment, kills billions of farmed animals and causes the deaths of unimaginable numbers of wild-living animals.

MSC – Stop Certifying Destruction

On the 21st March 2022, we took action at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to demand that they stop certifying the fishing industry and support a just transition to sustainable industries. We used red paint to symbolise the blood being spilled in our oceans which is supported and condoned by the MSC as they share a message of conservation with one hand while quietly accepting the cheques of super-trawlers and industrial fishing fleets with the other. This action was just the beginning. We are fed up with organisations that refuse to listen to the science that makes it clear that the only just and sustainable system is a fully plant-based one.

RSPCA – ALL Animals Deserve Respect

The day after our action at MSC we delivered a letter to the CEO of the RSPCA requesting a meeting and demanding that they make a commitment we can believe in to support the transition to a fully plant-based food system. 

The RSPCA’s mission is: ‘A world where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion.’ Yet, they actively support the meat and dairy industry by refusing to call for a transition to a fully plant-based food system. We ask the RSPCA how they can justify caring for dogs and cats while supporting the slaughter of the millions of farmed animals who are killed for food every year in the UK alone. Additionally, we ask the RSPCA how they can claim to care for and respect wild animals when they condone an industry that is one of the leading causes of the climate crisis. 

The threat to our planet is bleak. We have already seen thousands of humans and animals affected by extreme weather including droughts, floods, heatwaves and forest fires. Animal Agriculture is a leading cause, responsible for at least 18-23% of greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of agricultural emissions and 80% of Amazon deforestation . How can the RSPCA claim to protect animals while it dooms some to a catastrophic future by signing off on the killing of others? 

We are asking the RSPCA to fulfil their mission statement and support a future where ALL animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion. This future must be a plant-based future.

We will keep taking action until we see a food system that centres climate, animal and human justice, rather than unsustainable growth.

After delivering the letter we were promised a meeting from a member of the RSPCAs comms team. Watch this space for what happens next. 

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The post Stop Certifying Destruction first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

• Protestors from Animal Rebellion have used fire extinguishers to spray the London headquarters of  the Marine Stewardship Council blood red and have dumped red paint inside the office.
• They are holding placards reading ‘MSC – Stop Certifying Destruction’ and ‘Protect the Seas – End Fishing’.
• Animal Rebellion are demanding that all MSC certified fisheries stop all fishing to stop ocean destruction. 
• Animal Rebellion demands a just transition for workers to a sustainable plant-based food system.

Four people have sprayed the headquarters of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) blood red, to call on the organisation to stop certifying the fishing industry and support a just transition to sustainable industries.

Protestors from the non-violent direct action group Animal Rebellion used modified fire extinguishers to spray the building red, before sitting down in the paint holding placards reading Protect the Seas – End Fishing and MSC – Stop Certifying Destruction.

Orla Coghlan, a spokesperson for the organisation who attended the action today, said: “Evidence has shown that our oceans could be empty as soon as 2048 because of fishing. The MSC has a responsibility in their claims to be sustainable. They have a duty to revive the ocean when species are going extinct. The solution to fishless seas and ocean acidification is obvious: the government and the Marine Stewardship Council need to fund a just transition from fishing to sustainable plant-based agriculture, such as seaweed and legumes. The MSC are responsible for ensuring ‘sustainable’ fishing, however scientific evidence has shown that it is not possible to sustainably fish in our seas.”

Animal Rebellion demands that all MSC certified fisheries stop fishing immediately in order to reverse the depletion of our oceans. They also demand MSC to stop handing out ‘ecolabels’ to supermarkets and fisheries that have been proven to contribute to marine destruction.

This protest follows increased scrutiny of the Marine Stewardship Council following the 2021 film Seaspiracy, which exposed troubling systemic flaws in the labelling scheme. The film, which was released a year ago this Thursday, pointed to the inherent conflict of interest involved: the MSC is funded by the licensing fees paid by certified fisheries and supermarkets, a model that other labelling schemes such as RSPCA Assured and Red Tractor also adopt.

In 2016 a leaked report from WWF who co-founded the MSC in 1997 pointed to “troubling, systemic flaws,” in the certification scheme while last year the director of the WWF Mediterranean marine initiative stated that he “would not trust all of the fisheries to be sustainable.”

“Despite increasing warnings of imminent climate catastrophe, these certifiers continue to promote these destructive industries.” Said Animal Rebellion spokesperson, Harley McDonald-Eckersall. “We’re here today to demand that they stop the hypocrisy and stop condoning an industry that is destroying the planet and killing the animals they claim to protect. A fully just, sustainable plant-based food system is the only way forward.”

What’s next?

Animal Rebellion is demanding that the Marine Stewardship Council stops all fishing in its fisheries and stop handing out ‘ecolabels’ to supermarkets and fisheries that have been proven to contribute to marine destruction.

Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system.

Interview opportunities and photos

For interviews, photo opportunities or further information, contact the following spokespeople:

Harley McDonald-Eckersall: 07 869 287 923 (at the protest)

Orla Coghlan: 07 414 838 444 (at the protest)

Oliver (Press Back Office): 07706 066859

Photos: https://pics.io/search?tagId=6237175d7a86c5001a6a1c12

Email: pressoffice@animalrebellion.org

Website: animalrebellion.org

The post Animal Rebellion paints the Marine Stewardship Council red to demand the end of fishing first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

It’s a pretty obvious no, and yet this is almost exactly what is happening right now. But it’s not just one community that is being affected, it’s the whole world and the system that’s causing this destruction hasn’t had just one year to prove that it works. It’s had centuries. Meat and dairy have been the dominant part of a Western diet for a long time now, with increasing industrialisation following WW2 giving us the food system we are used to today. Right now, animal farming contributes at least 18% of global emissions, 70% of agricultural emissions and up to 80% of global deforestation. Even with all this, these industries fail to be profitable, with £1.5 billion of government subsidies coming straight out of taxpayers pockets and into those of livestock farmers. This industry was entrusted with the job of feeding the world. It’s failing. So why is there so much resistance to building something new?

A Deceptively Simple Solution

In recent years it has felt like there has been a shift, with campaigns for reducing the amount of meat and dairy we consume becoming more common. With reports like the 2019 EAT Lancet report which called for a 90% reduction in meat and dairy consumption as well as documentaries such as Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy, the recognition that what we eat impacts the planet has gained mainstream acceptance. A 2021 poll of 2,095 UK adults run by the ‘Eating Better Alliance’ found that 21% of respondents were eating less meat than a year ago, with 38% doing so because of carbon emissions and 37% because of other environmental concerns. In the face of a changing industry, however, we have seen a new story being told by the meat industry,  that we can keep our current food system and focus on eating less meat, but better quality.

For many people, this was the ideal answer. The idea that they didn’t have to drastically change our lifestyle or eating habits but could also have a neutral, or even positive effect on the planet while doing so. Yet, when you dig a little bit deeper into what the industries are telling us, some holes start to form.

Is Less But Better Enough?

Before we answer this question, it helps to look at a completely different industry and investigate how it dealt with rising information that was saying their product may be causing harm: the tobacco industry. In the book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway show how the big businesses behind cigarettes developed a playbook for dodging the science that showed that the product they were selling was killing people. This formula has gone on to be used to talk about everything from global warming to pesticides and, more recently, animal agriculture. The basic tactic is, cast doubt on the science through paid ‘experts’ and false claims and spark controversy to derail the conversation from what the harm that is being caused.  

It can be hard to believe but by looking at the industries’ own messaging we can quickly find examples of where meat, dairy and fishing are already doing this. And they all tell one story: that we can fix the problems of the industry by eating less and ‘better’ animal products.

They bring up food miles and promote buying locally sourced meat and dairy whenever questions around the climate impact of animal products are raised. While the idea of buying local in and of itself is a positive one, the reality is that transport is an extremely small part of food emissions, making up less than 10% and as low as 0.5% of GHG emissions when it comes to animal products’ contribution to emissions. So essentially, even if all animal products consumed were locally sourced, they would still be contributing far higher emissions than plant-based products. 

They say that switching to grass-fed systems for cows and sheep will be better for the environment than intensive farming and even plant-based options. If we look into this though, we find that the opposite is the case. Research shows grass-fed systems produce more emissions than intensive farming, while also using more land! On top of that, it would take a rainforest three-quarters of the size of South America to sequester the carbon produced by livestock.

Let’s not forget that every year in the UK approximately 2.6 million cattle, 10 million pigs, 14.5 million sheep and lambs, 80 million fish and 950 million birds are slaughtered for human consumption. It’s pretty clear that a food system where no one has to die is a better one. 

They say that there is no other option and that this food system is the only one that works. But we know that isn’t true.

A Plant-Based Food System

With more and more evidence showing us that we need to change what we eat to help the planet heal, it seems obvious that we need a big change and that it’s a change that can’t just be achieved through individuals making small shifts to their diet. The whole system is set up in a way that harms the planet. Luckily though, we have an alternative which would take destruction off the menu.

A study from Oxford University that looked into the viability of a plant-based food system showed that if we were to convert all the land currently used to graze animals to natural vegetation it would remove the equivalent of 15% of the world’s total GHG emissions. Only a small fraction of pasture land would be needed to grow food crops to replace the lost beef. Another report showed that if we were to shift to a plant-based food system, food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050, saving £440 billion in the process.

But it wouldn’t just mean less carbon and more wild spaces. A plant-based food system is a system of abundant and affordable food as plant-based food is not only better for the planet, it also takes far less land to produce and is rich in variety, culture and flavour. Although this world may feel far away, it is already happening. Organisations such as the UK-based Refarm’d are working with farmers to transition from a struggling dairy industry into sustainable and profitable oat milk farming while the Good Food Institute is supporting transitions to pulse farming.

Conclusion – Meat and Dairy is Bankrupt

With a plant-based food system we can feed the world, provide much needed green jobs and build a world where humans and animals alike are treated with respect and dignity and have access to an abundance of food and choice. Urgent change is needed but we have an alternative that is just and fair for everyone. All we need to do is work together and achieve it.

The post Doubt and Lies: the tactics of a struggling meat and dairy industry and why we won’t fall for them first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

The meat, dairy and fish industries are under threat so are desperately lashing out and it isn’t pretty. There is nowhere for those with vested interests to hide, given the science is now so clearly stacked against them. So they are going on the offensive. All 10 largest meat and dairy companies in the USA “have contributed to efforts to undermine climate-related policies” (Lazarus et al., 2021).

In an interview published on Boxing Day in The Guardian, a Spanish government minister, Alberto Garzón, in charge of consumer affairs, explained that factory farming is damaging the environment and leading to the export of poor-quality meat. Mild stuff and clearly factually correct. 

The backlash has been furious, from the meat industry and politicians, forcing the government to distance itself from his comments.

Fortunately, Garzón has stood his ground. In a subsequent radio interview he said: “I’m not saying anything new. I’m just relaying what scientists say. Everyone knows that the factory farming of meat causes pollution … and emits greenhouse gases.”

In the UK this month, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has launched a £1.5 million campaign featuring an inquisitive little girl ‘Nancy’ along with her grandad. Being broadcast on Channel 4, ITV and Sky as well as on-demand services, the new TV advert focuses on the supposed goodness within red meat and dairy. Poor ‘Nancy’.

The AHDB describes itself as “a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain to help the industry succeed in a rapidly changing world”.

“Survive” might be a more appropriate word than “succeed”. The rapidly changing world is what scares corporations that for so long have trashed the environment, contributed massively to the climate crisis and put out disinformation, while making huge profits and raking in massive taxpayer-funded subsidies. 

That misinformation is nowhere better epitomised than in the Red Tractor consumer logo for pork and pork products. It is not hard to understand the problem when you know that the “standard” behind this logo is from the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA). Talk about marking your own homework.

For mass misinformation under one roof, you can’t beat the industry’s WeEatBalanced website, with its sheen of respectability and faux concern for health and the environment. 

In fact, the weaknesses of the arguments shine through. For instance, in a piece entitled “What would happen if the world converted to veganism” there is basically nothing that can be said to counter all of the benefits of a plant-based diet. 

Here’s the first of five pathetic straws that are clutched at: “Livestock produce much more than just food, from medicines and cosmetics to glue and waterproofing agents, they are in a huge number of products. Consideration hasn’t been taken on the impact of these production processes or the impact of animal-free replacements.” 

Is that the best you can do?!

If the world switched to a plant-based system, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world (Poore & Nemecek, 2018). This was according to a study, published in the journal Science, based on a huge dataset from almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification). Oddly, this and the many other benefits, don’t feature on the website. 

The global meat industry leaves a trail of destruction all over the world, including climate change, deforestation, forest fires, human rights abuses, land grabs from indigenous people and traditional communities, increased risk of future pandemics like coronavirus, and damaging health.

Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research, said: “A fully plant-based food system “is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use. It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car.” 

There are echoes within the industry fight-back of other sectors that have ended up on the wrong side of history – tobacco and fossil fuels. If the food industry bodies wanted to be useful, they would put all of their efforts into bringing about a fair transition that protects independent farmers and supports the urgent shift to plant-based models. 

Instead, they shout, rant, misinform, and spend millions on lobbying, websites and advertising, as the sun starts to set on them. As Mr Garzón found recently, those that speak out will be attacked but these are the wayward, flailing punches of industries that are down and on their way out. 

What you can do:

Join Animal Rebellion and help us call out the hypocrisy and lies as we have done time and time again in our actions against the likes of McDonald’s, Arla, Red Tractor and others. 

Make a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (in the UK, this is at https://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html)

References:

Lazarus, O., McDermid, S. & Jacquet, J. The climate responsibilities of industrial meat and dairy producers. Climatic Change 165, 30 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03047-7

Nemecek. T and Poore. J, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” Science 360, issue 6392 (June 2018): 987-992. 

The post Industrial farming: Fighting for its survival first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Activists, experts and a renowned human rights lawyer are in court today in London seeking an end to factory farming in the UK. Animal Rebellion stands with them and congratulates them on their unprecedented and urgent action.  

Today, Animal Rebellion is standing alongside Scrap Factory Farming as an unprecedented case against the UK government is heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. We are outside the court to show our support for this world’s first ever legal action to end factory farming.

The case has been brought by the Humane Being and is fronted by Dr Alice Brough and Humane Being co-founder, Jane Tredgett, represented by renowned human rights lawyer, Michael Mansfield QC. Their case includes over 1200 pages of content detailing the risks and dangers of factory farming. Dr Brough was a vet on UK pig farms. After seeing the unhygienic and stressful conditions for the animals and the appalling environmental damage done on-site, she quit to campaign for animal justice.

The case focuses on the threat to public health from factory farming, including antibiotic resistance and the significant risk of increasingly deadly zoonotic diseases such as bird or swine flu. 

Animal Rebellion recognises that dismantling factory farming is a key part of our demand for a fair and sustainable transition to a plant-based food system. We cannot address the climate crisis and achieve animal and climate justice without it. This is why we stand in solidarity.

Animal Rebellion spokesperson, Dan Kidby, says: 

“Removing the incredibly inhumane system of factory farming, that destroys the health of the planet and people, is an essential part of the move to a plant-based food system. We congratulate and support all of the volunteers and experts that have worked so hard to bring this urgent and unprecedented court case. Scrapping factory farming and ensuring a rapid, sustainable and just transition to a plant-based system has to happen if we are to reverse climate crisis.”

The Climate Impacts

The impact of animal farming on the planet is well understood.

At its most fundamental, we know that meat, fish and dairy industries, and the resources needed to support them, contribute 18-23% of all greenhouse gasses and are responsible for around 70% of all global agricultural emissions.

Scientists are clear: we don’t need these systems to feed the world. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy industries use around 83% of global farmland, but provide only 37% of our protein and 18% of our calories. Better use of this land could remove 8.1 billion metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.

Methane gas is one of the largest contributors to global warming and can trap up to 100 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a five-year period. Most methane comes from cows that are fed low-quality grains that their bodies cannot digest, causing high levels of indigestion and flatulence. 

Water pollution

The current system is so bad on so many fronts, including the health ones highlighted by this week’s action. 

The meat and dairy industries also drain the world’s water supplies. From watering the crops that farmed animals eat to providing them with drinking water, and cleaning away the filth from farms, lorries, and slaughterhouses, the meat, egg, and dairy industries put a serious strain on the world’s water supply.

It is a double whammy in that the sector also pollutes the world’s waterways and seas. For instance, a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, highlighted a new class of agricultural pollutants in the form of veterinary medicines (antibiotics, vaccines and growth promoters), which move from farms through water to ecosystems and drinking-water sources. 

And only last week, alongside the decimation of fish populations and destruction of their habitats, the polluting effects of the fishing industry were exposed. Scottish fishermen were so incensed by what they see in the seas off Scotland that they went to a longstanding critic of their industry, Guardian journalist, George Monbiot. They exposed the deliberate and widescale disposing of nets and longlines at sea. This “ghost gear” drifting through the oceans presents a mortal threat to whales, dolphins, turtles and much of the rest of the life of the sea.  

Taking action

Monbiot concludes that, like the fictional US president in the recent movie, Don’t Look Up, here is yet another instance of the world’s governments, faced with ecological collapse, deciding to “sit tight and assess”.

The current failure of authorities to tackle the myriad issues from meat, dairy and fishing is why brave protestors have to step up, why court cases need to be brought, and why whistle-blowers need to be heard. 

The targets for curbing carbon emissions won’t be close to being met without a transition to a fair and sustainable plant-based system and, in parallel, so many other benefits would accrue. Our health would be better, the air would be cleaner, the planet’s water would be conserved and cleaner, and billions of creatures would avoid indescribable suffering. 

The post Animal Rebellion supports those taking the UK government to court today over factory farming  first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Animal Rebellion is all about joining the dots between the climate emergency and the urgent need to transition to a plant-based future. We can’t have the first without the second. For many of us, this is obvious – the evidence is clear. However, why do so many organisations and people still fail to make the connection?

As well as being part of Animal Rebellion’s media team, I am a Green Party councillor on the Green/Alliance-led Hythe Town Council in Kent. We declared a climate and ecological emergency and then brought a motion to become a plant-based council. It was an obvious, logical next step. 

Many other councils, educational institutions, churches and other organisations have declared climate emergencies and set net zero carbon targets. But only a relatively small number (Oxfordshire County Council being a recent fine exception) have followed this by becoming plant-based.

Was there a better example of the disconnect than serving meat, fish and dairy at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in November? While delegates from across the world discussed ways to meet carbon targets, a key part of the answer was staring up at them from their plates.

We read shocking facts: humans now account for about 36% of the biomass of all mammals; farmed animals, mostly cows and pigs, account for 60%; wild mammals for only 4%. The biomass of poultry is around three times larger than that of wild birds. Marine mammal biomass has decreased fivefold due to commercial whaling and other exploitative hunting practices.

Knowing this, how is it possible to just carry on regardless?

Story-telling is an important part of joining those dots. I had the honour last year of interviewing film-maker and self-declared “vegangelist”, Thomas Wade Jackson. His film, A Prayer for Compassion, poses one vital question: Why do so many religious and spiritual people not make the connection between their beliefs and a non-violent diet? He travels the US and beyond, asking this question to people of multiple faiths. 

Thomas told me: “They talk about we’re all connected, the passion and all this, but then when I saw they were still eating animals, it didn’t make sense to me.” Compassion for the planet and for people did not extend to other living creatures. We have been conditioned from birth, bombarded with messages, telling us what’s right and wrong, what’s desirable, what we should think, how we should behave; it is difficult to find our true voice, to see through the biases of our society. 

Story-telling is what A Prayer for Compassion does so powerfully, as have other films such as The Age of Stupid, Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy. It is what Animal Rebellion does with all of its actions, using a clear narrative, colour, music and images.   

Pressure has to be applied, there are too many entities with a vested interest in the status quo. As Mahatma Gandhi observed, Western civilization never looks for a cure for the problems, it looks for ways to make money out of the symptoms. 

On the up-side, more and more people are making the connection. The number of those acting for a plant-based system across the globe is increasing steeply. Veganuary is now a major movement. More generally, there is a growing understanding of the devastating impact of meat, fish and dairy.

Commercial companies have responded, with ever more plant-based product launches, although for the large incumbents this is typically alongside, not instead of, non-plant-based. 

There can be no sitting on the fence if we are to save the planet. It is why Animal Rebellion is calling for McDonald’s and its peers to become wholly plant-based by 2025. It is why we state you can’t have a climate-friendly dairy industry – it is a complete contradiction. 

Animal Rebellion and many others work tirelessly and bravely to join the dots. We can’t do otherwise – our whole future depends on it. 

Join us in 2022. Whatever your skills and time, there are always ways you can help! Fill out our interest form below or make contact via any social media. 

A Prayer for Compassion is available on streaming channels and is also available for community screenings, with potential grants available from plant-based funding organisation, VegFund – https://vegfund.org/

The post Joining the dots between the climate crisis and a plant-based food-system first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

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.