#StopTheSupply: Animal Rebellion activists stop milk supply in parts of England
AR is calling for the government to support farmers and fishing communities to move away from animal farming and fishing as part of an immediate transition to a plant-based food system, and commit to rewild the freed-up land and ocean as part of wildlife restoration.
SOPHIE ZELDIN-O’NEILL: More than 100 supporters of Animal Rebellion stopped the supply of fresh milk across large areas of England in the early hours of Sunday, including Arla Aylesbury, which processes 10% of the UK supply. It came after the activist group, who campaign for a sustainable plant-based food system, received no response to a letter to Downing Street in August, in which they warned of disruptive action in September unless progress towards their demands was made.
Members of Animal Rebellion stopped and climbed on company trucks outside four facilities supplying milk to the Midlands and south of England. Others entered company premises, climbing on to milk silos and the sites’ loading bays… The group has said its supporters will continue to take direct action until the British government negotiates on its two demands.
It is calling for the government to support farmers and fishing communities to move away from animal farming and fishing as part of an immediate transition to a plant-based food system. It also wants the government to commit to rewild the freed-up land and ocean as part of a broader programme of wildlife restoration and carbon drawdown…
John Appleton, who worked at Arla for six years and it taking part in the protest, said: “I’ve seen this industry first-hand, I know the struggle that farmers and workers go through every single day. We need a food system that works for them, everyone else, and nonhuman animals. “Governmental support for this is vital to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies. We know the twin solution: transition to a plant-based food system and a mass rewilding programme.”
Steve Bone, a photographer from Thorpe-le-Soken in Essex who also joined the action, said: “A plant-based future would restore the British countryside and all the wonderful nature lost to animal farming … A plant-based future would enable massive carbon drawdown and mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis”…
The protest comes a day after Animal Rebellion campaigners gathered at a Whole Foods store in London, and Marks & Spencer supermarkets in Southampton, Manchester and Birmingham, holding signs that read “Plant-based future” and “Rewild our land” as they tried to stop shoppers from buying milk. Animal Rebellion, a sister movement of Extinction Rebellion, claims it has hundreds of supporters willing to be arrested and go to prison for taking direct action. SOURCE…
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