In 1987 Veggies fought off libel action by McDonalds, who then went after the McLibel Two. The ensuing 313 day epic trial and ultimate total victory in the European Court of Human Rights was documented in the film ‘McLibel’, directed by Franny Armstrong.
Franny went on to direct the Climate Change blockbuster ‘Age of Stupid’, which Veggies was pleased to support as part of the Nottingham Not Stupid team that brought the film to Nottingham.
In producing ‘McLibel’, Franny’s Spanner Films invented a new concept of ‘Crowd Funding’, whereby hundreds of ordinary people made an affordable investment in the film.
Now the Crowd Funding concept is (hopefully) bringing a new kick-ass activist film to the screens:
It’s called Just Do It and it’s going to be a feature film about climate change activists, it’s going to be funny and inspiring. Who knows you might even spot Veggies at the now infamous G20 demonstrations in London or at the Great Climate Swoop at Nottm’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.
They’re making it totally independently (ie no big backers) and planning to give it to us for free. But money doesn’t grow on trees, so they need our help.
The producers, all climate activists themselves, are seeking crowd funding and Lush are doubling donations. Having benefited from Lush support ourselves we have sent a small donation from the Samosas for Social Change fund, but others are encouraged to go over to their website, check it out, and make a donation.
In an amazing show of solidarity and compassion many hundreds marched across the west end of London on Saturday 2nd October, to highlight the plight of farmed animals.
The rally was independently organised by grass roots campaigners, “Animal Rights Coalition”, supported by Animal Aid, Viva!, Veggies Catering Campaign and many other groups.
This is the first time that we have held a march for farmed animals in London, and it was a lively day, in solidarity of the millions of animals killed for meat, dairy and eggs, every day.
Speech by Richard Deboo
“Did you know that in the UK alone, around 1000 million animals are killed for meat, dairy and eggs every year? And, that number does not include the fish that are trawled out of the water in their tonnes. None of this is necessary – we do not need to consume animal products.”
Animal Aid Director, Andrew Tyler, spoke of the negative human health and environmental impacts of animal farming but declared: ‘My own argument against meat, milk, eggs, fish and all other animal products arises from my knowledge of the vile cruelty that is integral to these animal product industries. I have seen it for myself during numerous visits to farms, markets and slaughterhouses.” [video] More at Animal Aid’s rally report.
In Viva!’s media release, founder and director, Juliet Gellatley, said: “Viva!, together with many supporters, will be at the forefront of the event, calling for a move away from the reliance on livestock farming, for the sake of animals, people and the environment. It is unbelievable in this day and age that such barbaric and outdated practices, under which animals suffer, are allowed to continue.”
In her speech at the rally, she added: “If one person is unkind to an animal it is considered cruelty, but when a lot of people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of profit, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are involved, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people”. [video]
Saturday October 2nd saw the National March for Farmed Animals take place in London.
Speeches kicked off at approximately 12.30 and saw Juliet Gellatley of VIVA! give the first, before Andrew Tyler of Animal Aid, Richard Deboo, Louise Wallis, the former president of the Vegan Society and Kevin White, founder of Midlands Vegan Campaigns, who has just been awarded Veggie Achiever Of The Year.
The march itself began around 1.30 and saw animal lovers from around the UK walk up the busy Regent Street, down through Cockspur Street, down Whitehall, along Embankment, finally into Horse Guards Avenue, carrying placards, banners and leaflets, spreading the word to the general public about the cruelty that happens to farmed animals.
At every McDonalds or Steakhouse the marchers stopped to focus on that location for a few minutes, letting them know that they’re far from pleased at the companies for making a living out of the slaughter of animals, chanting ‘Stop the Slaughter, Meat is Murder’. Although what started out as a sunny day eventually saw rain drizzle, it couldn’t dampen the marchers’ passion.
After the two hour long march, a few more speeches took place including one from Chrissy Leyland, one of the founding members of Pogo Cafe, one of our fave vegan cafes (in London), Marion Eaton of F.R.I.E.N.D. Animal Rescue and Patrick of Veggies (vegan catering campaign).
The afternoon concluded with a couple of numbers by Mártin the Livewire, vegan hip-hop / rapper.
Full report and photo gallery by Shari Black Velvet at Save-A-Scream website.
Much of the cheap meat and dairy produce sold in supermarkets is only made possible as a result of serious human rights abuses and environmental damage in one of Latin America’s most impoverished countries. This film, by the Ecologist Film Unit, documents the experiences of some of those caught up in Paraguay’s growing conflict over soy farming.
Notes:
Up to 97% of soy is used as animal feed.
Practically all non-organically raised farmed animals, producing meat, eggs and dairy, are fed genetically mutated (GM) animal feed.
Ethically sourced soya for direct human consumption rather than wasteful livestock farming, can help the transition to a sustainable vegan diet.
The organic soya used for Veggies products is sourced from France.
“More than one million tonnes of soy is imported every year to feed animals in the pig, poultry and dairy sectors with 98 per cent of this coming from South America – where studies have linked the expanding number of soy plantations to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest – as well as the grassland regions of the Brazilian Cerrado, the Atlantic forest and the Chacos region.
“The UK could cut its dependency on imported soy in half by encouraging farmers to switch to home-grown alternative protein crops like oilseed rape meal, lupin, sunflower, linseed, beans and peas.”
- Veggies says: “this dependency could be cut far more if home-grown alternative protein crops were used for direct human consumption, rather than for the second population explosion of farmed animals.”
It’s called 
