Category: Animal Rights (Page 1 of 4)

The undercover copper who spied on Keir Starmer and seduced the activist the young Leftie lawyer was representing

John, a fellow activist, talked to Helen about everything. The death of his father. The sudden death of his mother back in New Zealand. His sadness at having no siblings. His dreams of having six children. His anxieties and insecurities.

Gradually, they became closer. Soon, they were not just campaigning together, but living together, loving one other, taking holidays to Scotland and Camber Sands on the south coast, all while making plans for the future.

They had so much in common. As if by magic, everything she liked, he seemed to be interested in, too.

Dave and Helen outside a McDonald's restaurant in 2005 as part of the television programme, McLibel

Dave and Helen outside a McDonald’s restaurant in 2005 as part of the television programme, McLibel

 
A young Sir Keir Starmer is pictured being interviews on Life Stories by Piers Morgan

A young Sir Keir Starmer is pictured being interviews on Life Stories by Piers Morgan

McDonald’s won – winning a £40,000 award against the pair which was never paid – but which backfired into a monumental PR disaster.

But John Barker was not actually an activist like Helen. Instead, he was an undercover policeman called John Dines employed by the top-secret Metropolitan Police Special Demonstration Squad (SDS).

And not the only one. Between 1968 and 2010, the SDS deployed 139 undercover officers to infiltrate and spy on more than 1,000 political, social and environmental groups and trade unions.

Today, the appalling scope, depth, darkness and deception of their operations continue to be revealed at the ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI).

This week, the SDS’s reputation hit a new low when the inquiry learned that, as well as inveigling himself into the home, head and bed of Helen (and the trust of her co-defendant David), Dines also spied on their young barrister – a newly-qualified Keir Starmer – who was working pro bono to help them prepare their defence against mighty McDonald’s.

So we now know how Dines, purporting to be Barker, would pick up Helen from legal meetings at Doughty Street Chambers in his van so he could talk through any confidential details of Starmer’s defence arguments on the journey home – and feed them straight to his managers at Scotland Yard. There are swirling allegations that Dines was also a bag carrier and occasional driver for Starmer – whose high-profile work in the McLibel case launched his legal career and eventual rise to become Director of Public Prosecutions.

McDonald's won ¿ winning a £40,000 award against the pair which was never paid ¿ but which backfired into a monumental PR disaster (stock image)

McDonald’s won, winning a £40,000 award against the pair which was never paid, but which backfired into a monumental PR disaster (stock image)

Even more damagingly, the Guardian reported this week that any juicy details gleaned were allegedly shared with McDonald’s, perhaps to help it win the case and defeat the activists.

But for now, let’s head back to 1986. When Helen Steel, David Morris and a handful of other members of London Greenpeace (separate to the main Greenpeace) were so appalled by what they saw as McDonald’s underhand practices, that they drafted a six-page leaflet, ‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s: everything they don’t want you to know‘, that set out what they saw as the corporation’s wrongdoings.

Their allegations were far and wide, including everything from McDonald’s exploiting children through its advertising, to promoting unhealthy food, paying low wages, being anti-union and responsible for animal cruelty and environmental damage.

They handed out the few hundred copies they could afford to print on The Strand in London.

Not surprisingly McDonald’s went bananas, threatening to throw all its legal might at London Greenpeace.

It was surely madness to try to fight it out. But two of the campaigners – Helen and David – refused to apologise.

It was soon after, in 1987, that Dines, then 28, popped up on the scene. He was quick to get involved in the anti-McDonald’s campaign, giving everyone lifts in his van, becoming a key member of the group and taking part in discussions in their office, the pub or each other’s homes.

There are swirling allegations that Dines was also a bag carrier and occasional driver for Starmer ¿ whose high-profile work in the McLibel case launched his legal career

There are swirling allegations that Dines was also a bag carrier and occasional driver for Starmer, whose high-profile work in the McLibel case launched his legal career

Slowly, he closed in on Helen. He dropped her home after meetings. Confided in her. Borrowed money so that he could fly back to New Zealand for his mother’s funeral. When he returned, several months later and two years after they’d first met, they became romantically involved. They found a flat in London, moved in together and started planning their future. He wanted to buy a small house in the countryside with his inheritance, somewhere he could ‘dig a duck pond for her’ and they could settle down and start a big family.

As Helen has recalled: ‘He said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. In a short space of time I fell absolutely, madly, in love with him in a way I had never fallen in love with anyone before or since.’

So when she (and others) received a writ from McDonald’s, he wrote her a letter, advising her not to fight the case for fear she’d end up isolated and alone. And when still she refused to step back, he was there by her side, discussing Starmer’s free legal advice from every angle.

(The two co-defendants were never awarded legal aid and, for 313 days, had to defend themselves against McDonald’s £10 million legal team in the High Court).

Alas, as we all know now – but at the time poor Helen did not – it was all lies. John Barker didn’t exist. Or not any more. Dines was hiding behind the identity of an eight-year-old boy from Derby who had died of leukaemia years ago in 1968.

Dines’ parents, meanwhile, were both alive and well. He had siblings galore. Oh yes, and a wife called Debbie, who he’d married back in the 1970s. And he was just one of dozens of undercover officers working for SDS, for whom it seems there were no limits to what they would do to protect their cover.

Some even committed crimes. According to a former colleague of Dines, he reportedly carried marbles at demonstrations to throw under the hooves of police horses and once injured himself so he could pretend he had been beaten up in the back of a police van.

Steel will probably never know whether she was chosen randomly to give Dines a foothold in the Greenpeace community, or specially selected because of her role in the McLibel campaign.

Whatever. Their relationship – and its inevitable end – had a catastrophic impact on her life. Because Dines’ departure in March 1992 was textbook SDS.

In the months preceding, his behaviour became erratic as he started complaining of mental health issues, saying there was too much pressure and stress and that he needed time away to sort his head out.

Then, one morning, Helen came downstairs to a note on the kitchen table saying that he needed some space and had flown to South Africa.

And that was that. He was gone, leaving no trace. No birth certificate. No record. Nothing but memories and a few dog‑eared holiday snaps.

‘I felt both physically and mentally spent. John’s disappearance still consumed my thoughts every day,’ said Helen.

Partly because she loved him. But also she was worried sick that he might do something to harm himself.

It took her years – and relentless digging – to get to the truth. In 1994, she discovered that John Barker had never existed. Then, in 2003, she discovered he had been a married police officer.

And, finally, in late 2010, she received confirmation he had been an undercover officer. And not the only one. Because around this time, it emerged that another undercover officer, Mark Kennedy, had had several relationships with the environmental activists he’d spied on.

And bit by bit, activists, journalists and the whistle-blower Peter Francis – one of Dines’ former colleagues – began to share the truth about SDS.

Sadly, it took Helen so long to trust anyone again that she lost her chance to have children.

But it didn’t stop her from campaigning to prevent the same happening to anyone else. And in November 2015, after bringing legal action against the Metropolitan Police and battling for years, she and seven other women – some of whom had had children with undercover officers who later disappeared – secured a settlement and an unreserved apology.

Lord only knows what drove Dines. Or what drove any of them to leave their own families and go so deep undercover that other women came to love and cherish them as their own.

After all the lies, his real-life story seems rather anodyne.

Two years in a desk job back at the Met HQ, before being retired early on an ill health pension and moving – first to New Zealand, where his in-laws lived, and, later, to Sydney, Australia, where he worked training Indian police officers to tackle Left-wing extremists.

And where, thanks to Google, Helen finally tracked him down – in 2016, exactly 24 years to the day since he’d walked out that morning. ‘I knew it was the same date, because it was International Women’s Day,’ she says wryly.

There is a video online of her confronting him in the airport. Look it up. It’s worth a watch.

You can’t hear the audio but, apparently, and looking tanned and crisp in a pink shirt, he apologises unreservedly for his behaviour.

But what good is that? The damage is done. The impact on Helen’s life. The lies, lies and more lies.

And now, this week, yet another layer of deceit emerged. Spying on barristers! Feeding stolen legal advice to McDonald’s? Lord knows what else will be uncovered in the coming months. But perhaps one day Dines will put his pink shirt on again and apologise to the Prime Minister, too.


See also the original Guardian article on which this story is based.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/oct/15/undercover-policeman-admits-spying-on-keir-starmer-when-he-was-a-barrister

 

Also “Fighting McDonald’s took half my life. Now I’m taking on the Met” . Sunday Times, October 20th 2024

 


Environmental and social justice campaigner Helen Steel talks about being spied on by undercover police officer John Dines.

Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance meeting, London Metropolitan University, 12 November 2014.

Video by Reel News.

Helen Steel speaking at Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) meeting


The undercover copper who spied on Keir Starmer and seduced the activist the young Leftie lawyer was representing

See also:

#Spycops Info

The Case

Farming for a Future

Farmer Jay herd at Hillside BBC


News in 2017 that the Vegan Society is working with Bradley Nook Farm in Derbyshire to transition from beef to vegan organics was the icing on the (vegan) cake of all our years of campaigning. It shows the great value of networking both within the vegan movement and with movements beyond in the wider world. 

Veggies met up with farmer Jay when catering at Northern Green Gatherings at his inherited family farm. The farm near Ashbourne, Derbyshire is also one of a number of locations used on rotation for Earth First! Gatherings. As vegan campaign caterers Veggies has catered for EF! since the very first gathering in 1991, helping in a small way to maintain a vegan ethos in the grass roots eco-action movement.

It was through the involvement of long term Veggies member Cathy in another Vegan Society project (hospital catering) that the opportunity​ came about to mention in conversation the potential to veganise Jay’s farm. The rest is, as they say, history, and hopefully a turning point in the transition of many more livestock farms to the compassionate and efficient farming of Food for a Future.

Hosting camps & gatherings can provide a useful income stream for vegan landowners. We will actively encourage the gatherings at which we cater to consider holding events at Bradley Nook Farm. As participants in the Northern Green Gathering (NGG) held there each August, we will urge the organisers to encourage other caterers at the event to honour the compassionate stance of the farm by highlighting vegan options. We know this to be a popular position to take as Nottingham Green Festival has declared a fully vegan ethos from 2017.

Meanwhile Jay has already discussed plans for his new ventures with Derbyshire Dales District Council.

He said: “We’ve got a huge range of brick buildings on the farm which are unused. We’re hoping to turn those into a vegan restaurant, a vegan teaching kitchen and accommodation for people who would like to come and help on the vegetable growing. A vegan holidays sort of thing.” (Derby Telegraph)

STOP PRESS – July 2020Bradley Nook Sanctuary  – the UK’s first Refarm’d partner farm, for local ethical production of organic oat milk.

Since 1984 Veggies Catering Campaign has saved hundreds of cows by simply selling, with vegan attitude, possibly half a million Veggies Burgers. All those lives were unknown to us, but the path has led to 73 individual living, breathing lives that you can now meet at Hillside Animal Rescue:

 

Farmer Jays Cows at Hillside The cows are now being cared for by Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk which is fundraising for their keep

Please sponsor Hillside to help the cows – please click here or telephone the Hillside Cow Rescue Helpline on 01603 736200 (9am to 10pm).Please Help the Cows

or by bank transfer donation to…
The Co-operative Bank
Account No: 69668302
Sort Code: 08-92-99

 
Or by post to Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Hill Top Farm, Hall Lane, Frettenham, Norwich, NR12 7LT

Vegetarian Farmer Jay article in Vegan Trade Journal
Read the full story in the Vegan Trade Journalfree download here
 

Visit freefromharm.org to read the inspiring stories of other former meat & dairy farmers that became vegan activists.

The story of Farmer Jay is also featured in / at / on:
 

 

BBC News 13 June 2017

A vegetarian farmer has given his herd of cows to an animal sanctuary to protect them from the slaughterhouse.

Jay Wilde, 59, who farms in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, sent [73] cattle to a Norfolk rescue centre as he could no longer bear to send them to be killed.

Mr Wilde, a vegetarian for 25 years, grew up herding cows and took over the family farm when his father died.

“Cows have good memories and a range of emotions. They form relationships. I’ve even seen them cry,” he said.

“It was very difficult to do your best to look after them and then send them to the slaughterhouse for what must be a terrifying death.”

The Hillside Animal Sanctuary near Frettenham said 30 of the cows are pregnant and all the animals “would live out their lives essentially as pets”.

Founder, Wendy Valentine, said Mr Wilde is not the first farmer to have donated his herd.

She recalls a couple who “could not bear to continue dairy farming and kept their cows as pets with the help of the sanctuary”.

Mr Wilde, who switched from dairy farming to organic beef production on the death of his father in 2011, said he always wanted to give up animal production because he “couldn’t believe it was right to eat them”.

He believes dairy farming is particularly hard because calves and cows would often become distressed on separation.

“I’m relieved to have made the decision to no longer farm animals, something which I always found quite upsetting,” he said.

His brother-in-law told him he was “absolutely insane” to give away cattle which could fetch up to £40,000 at market.

He said “a lack of imagination” had previously stopped him switching to arable farming.

Mr Wilde will now be running a vegan organic market farm supplying garden produce without using animal products or fertilisers.

 


Farmer Jay Independent
 
 
A herd of cows from the East Midlands will be mooing a sigh of relief thanks the kindness of their owner, vegetarian farmer Jay Wilde who has sent them to live out their days in an animal sanctuary.

 Leaving their old cattle sheds at Bradley Nook Farm in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the 59 cows were rehomed in Norfolk at the Hillside Animal Sanctuary on Monday.

A vegetarian for a total of 25 years, Mr Wilde told The Times that he found it “very difficult to do your best to look after them and then send them to the slaughterhouse for what must be a terrifying death.”

“I’m relieved to have made the decision to no longer farm animals, something which I always found quite upsetting,” Mr Wilde said.

“Cows have good memories and a range of emotions. They form relationships. I’ve even seen them cry.” 

The herd, worth £40,000 at market, will avoid the abattoir to join the sanctuary’s 300 cattle and 2,000 horses, donkeys and ponies. Mr Wilde has kept ten as “pets.”

The founder of the sanctuary, Wendy Valentine, said Mr Wilde’s cattle could now enjoy their full 25-year lifespans rather than reaching the slaughter age of two to three years. 

The sanctuary was started in 1995 to draw attention to the effects of factory farming and needs to raise a minimum of £5m per year to continue to care for the animals. 

The donation was organised by the Vegan Society and Mr Wilde now plans to farm organic vegetables free of animal products and fertilisers to sell in the flourishing vegan market. 

Tom Kuehnel, the Vegan Society’s campaign officer, told The Independent: “Jay is a real pioneer, which we hope will inspire other farmers to move towards more compassionate and sustainable farming methods that don’t involve animals.”

… full story …

The Growth of Resistance

From the first outing of the Hunt Sabs on Boxing Day 1963 and the beginnings of Animal Aid on Jean Pink’s kitchen table in 1977, the UK Animal Rights Movement entered the 1980’s with an active network of over 200 grass roots local Animal Rights Groups.

This network was ready to put Animal Rights on the streets with the 1992 campaign against Boots the Vivisectors, the cancellation of the Grand National  in 1993, the live exports campaign (which led to the tragic killing of Jill Phipps in 1995) and pickets of half the UK’s McDonald’s at the end of the McLibel trial in 1997.

These campaigns were a testing ground for campaigners tactics and tenacity, resisting the same state and corporate security, and hence crossing over to the growing resistance to road building and GM crops, Reclaim the Streets actions and so on, further united by the  campaign against the ‘Criminal Justice Bill‘, which targeted anti-road protesters, Animal Rights activists, Trade Unionists, football supporters, ravers, ramblers, squatters, & others.

Despite widespread infiltration by Spycops, we entered the internet age ready to inspire new generations with many compassionate people from 6 to 96 using the power of social media to mobilise. New campaigns bring down the walls of slaughterhouses and livestock farming with virtual reality (Animal Equality), by bearing witness (the ‘Save’ movement) and by bringing about half a million vegans (Viva!, Vegan Society, Animal Aid, Veggies Catering Campaign, Veganuary & more). Animals in Circuses have been mostly confined to history (CAPS etc), fur is widely condemned and hunting with hounds is technically illegal.

However where profit and sick kicks prevail we must be ever vigilant. 50 years on the Hunt Sabs are holding back the madness of the badger cull and still facing intimidation from those flouting the Hunt ban. Despite many major victories against animal ‘research’ labs and their suppliers, more animals than ever suffer due to GM research & other new tech. There are so many ways in which animals, other people and the planet itself is under threat, but these evils are being resisted by coalitions of the powerfulus, now, working together in a spirit of mutual respect and cross movement support.

 

This text forms part of the evolving Resistance Exhibition (fb) as seen at Feb’17 Lush Summit.

 

Joan Court R.I.P

Joan Court & DarrenWe are sad to bring you the news of Joan Court‘s death this month. She died very peacefully, her cats around her. She was ninety seven.
 
Joan’s Funeral will be on Wednesday 14th December at 12.45 pm in Cambridge City Crematorium, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0JJ

 It will be followed by a party to celebrate Joan’s life at Mill Road Baptist Church, 178 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 3LP Veggies will be providing food and drink but it is strictly non-alcoholic!
 
All Joan’s friends are warmly invited. If you are able to come, please email JoanCourt74@gmail.com.
 
Joan requested donations instead of flowers, to be shared equally between Animal Aid and Hunt Sabs.There will be collection boxes at the party.

 It would be lovely if you could bring something purple (e.g. a ribbon or a flower) to put on her coffin at the crematorium.
 
We will have Memory Boards at the party, and we hope that you will post a memory or a thought about Joan. After the party we will put these together into a book to celebrate her life.
 
I do hope you can come, and help us make this a true celebration of an amazing life.
 
Joan was a tireless campaigner who has supported Veggies Catering on many occasions. Her book ‘In the Shadow of Mahatma Gandhi’ has been available from Veggies bookstall.
 


Today we say goodbye to a great warrior for the oppressed, Joan Court who was a nurse, midwife and social worker, who walked with Mahatma Ghandi, who fought for the rights of women in India and Pakistan, who fought for children’s rights and for the rights of non humans. In 2013 she came to the Gloucestershire badger cull zone and, we think, in her mid 90s was the oldest sab in the field for the 2 nights she was out. Total respect and love to this wonderful lady, sleep well Joan, you have earned it xxxxx

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, cat

A tribute to Joan Court, written by Andrew Tyler of Animal Aid, has appeared on the “other lives” section of the Guardian website & in print edition on 24 December.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/dec/22/joancourtobituary

My friend Joan Court, the animal and human rights activist, who has died aged 97, was driven by a powerful impulse to expose and remedy injustice and cruelty. She was also, as she put it, a “born sensualist”, her tastes running to strong colours, perfumes and “exciting action”. This, and her desire to do good, underpinned her many adventures.

Her start in life was hard: her father, Cecil Court, a solicitor, took his own life, and her mother, Muriel (nee Gibson), was an alcoholic. She had an older brother, Peter.

Joan’s schooling ended when she was 12, after her father’s death. She and her mother moved from their London home to work in domestic service in Cornwall and then Cape Town, South Africa. Returning to London in 1936, she went on to qualify as a nurse and midwife at St Thomas’ hospital, and as a social worker in Bristol. She practised as a midwife and, funded initially by the Friends Service Council (FSC) and later as a World Health Organisation employee, worked in impoverished regions of India and Turkey, and the Appalachian mountains of North America.

In the 1960s, she was appointed director of the NSPCC battered child research unit, and was influential in gaining acceptance of a then unfamiliar concept in the UK.

In 1946, when she was working for the FSC, organising midwifery services in the slums of Calcutta (Kolkata), she met and got to know Mahatma Gandhi. Joan, a lifelong vegetarian, developed a profound respect for his commitment, compassion and determination to achieve change through non-violent means. She tried to emulate these goals, campaigning first for children and, for the last 38 years, for animals.

In 1978, after seeing a poster describing the horrors of animal research, she took part in an Animal Aid anti-vivisection march in Cambridge. The next day she founded a new Cambridge group, which was soon involved in all animal-related issues, including live exports, hunting, shooting, whaling and the meat and dairy industries.

Her advanced age made her attention-grabbing stunts also irresistible to the media. Her animal campaigning began just before she was 60 – when she gained a social anthropology degree from Cambridge. There were banner-hangs, public hunger strikes and sit-downs in inconvenient
places. She locked herself in a cage and chained herself to railings. In speeches and interviews she refused to apologise for radical direct action, although she was opposed to violence.

Her most lasting triumph was, with Pat Griffin and Sue Hughes, as one of three Cambridge “granarchists” who initiated what became a national campaign of opposition to Cambridge University’s plans for a massive new research facility that would have specialised in invasive neurologicalexperiments on monkeys. The university abandoned the project in January  2004.

At the age of 85, she joined the Sea Shepherd flagship, Farley Mowat, on a hunt for illegal fishing vessels in the South Atlantic.

Joan could be self-absorbed, cantankerous, bossy and infuriating, but her friends were friends for life.

 

Nottingham Green Festival

We are delighted to announce that the Nottingham Green Festival will return on Sunday 11th September, following its hugely successful relaunch in 2015.

The event is organised by grass roots, community based volunteers, with no statutory funding, so your help would be most welcome. Whilst we are only a small part of the organising team, Veggies is pleased to provide support by facilitating planning meetings, hosting the NottmGreenFest.org.uk website and, of course, providing Food by Veggies on the day!

Due to the withdrawal of funding the event did not happen in 2014, but Veggies covered essential up-front expenses and the Nottingham community rose to the challenge of making it happen in 2015, regardless of the tight budget. However these funds will need to be recouped and recycled long before 11th September to fund this year’s event, so your support is invited:

Show support for the event by making a small donation. Click the button to donate with PayPal or credit/debit cards; send a cheque to “Nottingham Green Festival”, c/o Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Nottingham NG7 6HX; or transfer directly to: Nottingham Green Festival, Unity Trust Bank, sort code 08-60-01, a/c no 53110426 …more…

Nottingham Green Festival Ethos

Inspired by the decision by Shambala Festival to be the first mid-scale commercial festival to declare a meat free policy – a position established by Nottingham Green Festival over 30 year ago – we welcome a debate about whether to stay ahead of the game by taking the next logical step, aiming for vegan catering, whilst sharing info inviting other stall holders to leave animal products at home on this occasion.

“Shambala HQ is a mixed bag, with vegans, veggies and meat eaters co-existing harmoniously together, but the whole team agrees that it is important to be bold with our environmental stance, and encourage this debate.”

“The research available clearly demonstrates that overall, a meat-free diet has about half the carbon impact of a meat diet, and a dairy-free vegan diet has a third of the impact.”

Please, see the full meat-and-fish-free-for-2016 discussion.

As Shambala say: “We’re certainly not trying to tell everyone they should become vegan overnight. We are simply not serving meat for [4 days at] the festival to reduce the festival’s impacts, to take a stance, and to encourage an important debate.”

Please let us know what you think: info@NottmGreenFest.org.uk


Nottingham Green Festival Gallery

Veggies is also hosting a mailing list for announcements, news and information about Nottingham Green Festival. (Note: You may get a ‘security certificate‘ warning! Fear not; this is because the list is provided by The Riseup Collective, an activist internet group that doesn’t tick all the corporate boxes). You can safely click through. Honest. Please do subscribe.

Nottingham Green Festival LogoYour support will make all the difference in ensuring the success of Nottingham’s own Green Festival, the place for the whole family to learn, explore and try the latest in everything environmentally friendly and ethical, whilst also having lots of fun in the beautiful setting of the Arboretum Park, Waverley Street / Addison Street, a couple of minutes from Nottingham’s Old Market Square.

With your help, the event will have over 100 product, information and food stalls, kids rides, workshops, natural therapies and sustainable technologies, performers and entertainment throughout the park and live music from the bandstand.

Visit the Nottingham Green Festival website for more event details.


Womens Lib = Animal Lib

Published by Veggies for Derby Womens Day 2015

Animal Lib Human Lib logo“As women enjoy the gains we have made in the path to our own equality, we must continue to assert our own presence and recognize our uniquely personal stake in fighting for those who are still being silenced.” – How Sexism and Animal Cruelty Coexist by Theresa Noll

“Why vegan? We maintain that Nonhuman Animals represent a distinct at-risk social group. Fighting against human inequality makes no sense so long as we perpetuate the inequality of other animals. What we eat, what we wear, how we entertain ourselves, etc. is so often built on the oppression of Nonhuman Animals (which also oppresses vulnerable human groups). Speciesism, racism, sexism, disableism, heterosexism, classism, etc. are all rooted in the same source operating with similar ideologies and mechanisms” – Vegan Feminist Movement

“A noun is a person, place, or thing,” we obediently recite as children. What, then, are nonhuman animals? They aren’t people or places, so – convention tells us – they must be things. Current English usage is speciesist. It glorifies the human species and belittles all others. Just as sexist language demeans women and excludes them from full consideration, speciesist language demeans and excludes nonhuman animals. When we consign other animals to the category thing, we obscure their sentience, individuality and right to autonomy.” – On The Issues Magazine: A Magazine of Feminist, Progressive Thinking

Feminist Animal Liberation LogoAn interesting read about the connections between Feminism and Animal Rights is, ‘The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory’ by Carol Adams. The award-winning book explores a relationship between patriarchal values and meat eating by interweaving the insights of feminism, vegetarianism, animal defense, and literary theory.

What’s Wrong With the Dairy Industry?

Dairy cow and calf“After repeated cycles of forced impregnations, painful births, relentless milkings, and crushing bereavements, their spirit gives, their bodies wither, their milk dries up. At the age when, in nature, a female cow would barely enter adulthood, the life of a dairy cow is over. When her milk ‘production’ declines, she and her other ‘spent’ herd mates are trucked off to slaughter. Some are pregnant. All are still lactating. As they are shoved towards death, they drip milk onto the killing floor… All dairy operations, including Organic, exist solely by doing to millions of defenseless females the worst thing anyone can do to a mother.”

“Milk Comes from a Grieving Mother” ~ leaflet by Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary

Most people can see the animal exploitation inherent in the meat industry, but the dairy industry isn’t immediately obvious. Dairy cows are portrayed as having an idyllic life but the reality is that cows (like all mammals) only produce milk for their young in response to giving birth. The animals are kept in a cycle of near constant pregnancy and lactation (meaning huge physical and metabolic stress, often leading to disease and exhaustion). Each cow also suffers the separation from their young, calling for each other desperately – something which has been studied and even the dairy industry themselves admit it causes emotional stress. Male calves are often unwanted ‘by-products’ of the dairy industry and are shot at only a few hours old.

Feminists for animal lib photo

Photo: 1980's 'Feminists for Animal Rights' - a network of women striving to live cruelty-free lives.

Want to Ditch the Meat and Dairy?

Visit the following websites for more information:

Vegan Society – www.vegansociety.com
Viva! – www.milkmyths.org.uk
Vegan Kit – www.vegankit.com

Vegan RevolutionYou can buy lots of alternatives to meat and dairy in supermarkets – many sell their own brand products and also other vegan brands. But for the most ethical option we recommend shopping at your local independent health food shop. In Derby we support the vegan shop Sound Bites on Morledge.

Most meat-based meals can simply be veganised using meat-free alternatives such as veggie mince (such as Veggies burger mix, veggie burgers and tofu.

Vegan alternatives to milk

altThere are a great variety of milk alternatives that are widely available. Most people know about soya milk, but there is also oat, coconut, rice, hazelnut, almond and hemp!

Vegan alternatives to butter

There are soya, sunflower, olive and coconut blend spreads.

Vegan alternatives to cheese

There are all kinds of cheese substitutes – cheddar, edam, mozarella, parmesan, spreadable soft cheeses and meltable cheese for pizza. Some are soya based and some nut based.

Vegan chocolate!

Lots of dark chocolate is already vegan but there is also a wide range of vegan chocolate, with milk chocolate, white chocolate and every other variety under the sun.

There there are also vegan alternatives to dairy yoghurt, cream, ice cream, cakes, mayonnaise… anything you can think of really! What’s more, there are exciting new products all the time.

Feel free to Contact Veggies for any help or advice.

Download the flier – 3 jpg files

Women's Day flier Women's Day flier Womens Day flier

or download as pdf file here


Veggies Summer Tour

Between now and the end of August, Veggies has eight weekend camping events, as well as several single day events.

Veggies Action CateringWe recommend you to check out all these events with view to attending / supporting them.

Even better, if you are attending any of these events you might like to help with Veggies Campaign Catering.

Please contact us if you might help in any way.

Warmest wishes and motivational ‘Go Team Veggies!’

Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July
Peace in the Park – Oxfordshire

A Buddhist event at the Global Retreat Centre with a mix of music, talks and meditation pavilions. Events and activities will include ‘Mindset Talks’, new ‘One Question’ events, woodland activities for children and adults, story-telling from ancient lands, an open air chill-out meditation lounge, sacred music in the grounds, and the hugely popular ‘Meditation & Music for the World’ event.

See: http://peaceinthepark.globalretreatcentre.org/


Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July
and Friday 25th to Sunday 27th July
Goddess Camp – Bestwood Park, Nottm

Women, men and children are welcome for a weekend of celebration, ritual and workshops at the Goddess Camp at Bestwood Country Park.

See: http://peakspirit.wix.com/goddesscamp


Thursday 24th to Sunday 27th July
Northern Green Gathering
Derbyshire Dales, Nr Ashbourne, Derbyshire

A small volunteer-run environmental/educational gathering, a 4 day event on a beautiful new site, focussed around sustainable living and green campaigns. There will be environmental workshops & campaigns, permaculture, organic veggie cafes, stalls, healers & alternative therapies, kids space, theatre & circus workshops, and a showcase of environment living in action, including solar power and wind power.

See: http://www.nggonline.org.uk/


Thursday 31st July to Sunday 3rd August
Green Gathering – Chepstow, Wales

At the Green Gathering you can rediscover ancient skills and explore
pathways to future sustainability; talk with key speakers from the Green movement and engage in lively debate at the Green Forum venue and inform yourselves about current issues and causes with groups in the Campaigns area, which will include a Co-ops Camp, co-ordinated by Radical Routes.

See: http://www.greengathering.org.uk/


Thursday 31st July to Monday 4th August
Peace News Summer Camp 2014 – E.Suffolk

Event to help build a radical movement for the future by building a living community today, with local activists – top trainers – revolution – non-violence – learning from other movements – community – glorious countryside.

See: http://peacenewscamp.info/


Thursday 7th to Monday 11th August
Animal Rights Gathering – Notts/Derbys

The Animal Rights Summer Gathering exists to promote cooperation and to spread information between the various groups and individuals working throughout the UK to stop animal abuse.

See: http://www.argathering.org.uk/


Thursday 14th to Wednesday 20th August
Reclaim The Power – location TBA

August will see thousands ‘Reclaim the Power’ and stand in solidarity with communities opposing fracking. Camp will be a hub for skillshares, workshops, entertainment and direct action. There will be a probable Veggies Cafe space & action catering.

See: http://www.nodashforgas.org.uk/


Thursday 28th to Monday 1st September
Earth First Summer Gathering

The Earth First! Summer Gathering is the place where people involved in radical ecological direct action – or those who want to be involved – get together for five days of time and space to talk, walk, share skills, learn, play, rant, find out what’s going on, find out what’s next, live outside, strategise, hang out, incite, laugh and conspire. The workshops, networking and planning of actions at this low impact eco-living camp is organised non-hierarchically.

See: http://efgathering.weebly.com/


During this period we also have these one day events:

Community Circle

Tuesday 22nd July &
Tuesday 19th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=555

Cycle Mania

Friday 8th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=994

Brinsley Animal Rescue Open Day

Sunday 10th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=423

London Vegan Festival

Sunday 17th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=269


Much more on Veggies Events Diary

More on Veggies Catering for Gatherings

Debbie Vincent

Debbie Vincent was released on licence on 13th April 2017 and, although restricted in her movements to Reading, is now able to receive visits from friends in more pleasant suroundings:

Date: April 30th 2017

I visited Debbie, recently ‘released’ on licence in Reading.

She is as strong and compassionate as ever, more concerned for the welfare of others at the Approved Premises where she is hostelled and the large number of homeless people in and around Reading.

She is maintaining her innocence of the politically motivated charges against her so is wading through endless legal presentations and appeals.

Despite having to sign in 4 times a day she is walking the Kennet & Avon canal, visiting bluebell woods and (having mended 2 bikes at the hostel) cycling along the nearby River Thames. She hopes to get involved with some nature-related voluntary work and soon to relocate back to her home base of Bristol – at the other end of the Kennet & Avon Canal.

 

Date: 1st May 2017

For more background on Debbie’s case see this ten year on retrospective from Red, Green & Black.

 

Date: 1 December 2016

Report on a friend’s visit to Debbie:

Today we went to visit animal liberation political prisoner Debbie Vincent. She has been in gaol for almost three years and is approaching the end of her custodial sentence which will arrive in April. As ever, it was a good visit and there was lots to talk about. She is still busying herself with work in the prison gardens and finds a lot of comfort and meaning being surrounded with this limited example of nature. On top of that she is attending an art class one morning a week, working with different mediums and it is lovely to see Debbie find a new outlet for her creativity.

She said that this year has gone fast for her. She is still struggling as usual against the prison bureaucracy and ideology that wishes to define her in fallacious and slanderous ways, but refuses to be broken. She has refused to attend ‘offender behaviour’ sessions as she believes they are not sincerely interested in exploring the reasons for her imprisonment, only wanting her to accept ‘guilt’ for being an animal liberationist. In fact, she said some of the staff are getting fed up with the intensity of her complaints and she told us about how on some of her paperwork there is even mention of when she complained about the prison breaking environmental regulatory laws!

Of course it is hard for her to maintain her principles in such an environmental, but it is evident she takes great strength from this. We talked somewhat about the general conditions in prison and she has noted a massive rise in prisoners arriving with mental health concerns, explaining that there is just not the appropriate services to help such people these days, so it is becoming more common that such people are merely resigned to prison. We talked briefly about rap music and then sometime later I asked her if she wanted anything from the small cafeteria – with a clever smile on her face she replied ‘a glass of water, world peace and early release!’

With it quickly approaching the time of year that traditionally has been about coming together with our loved ones and thinking about others I would urge people to drop Debbie a letter or card in the post. I know she sincerely appreciates the effort and tries to answer such communication. I can attest from personal experience how lovely it is to receive her letters in the posts.


Date: 1 September 2016:

We went to visit animal liberation political prisoner Debbie Vincent today. The visit was a lot of fun as she was on great form and there was lots of joking and laughing along side the serious talk. She is still working in the prison gardens, a job she has done for about eighteen months now, and the five or so hours a day spent outside this summer has really done wonders for her complexion. She has nearly finished her animal care course, goes to the gym five times a week, and has a backlog of books to read and letters to respond to. She told us that it takes around 3 weeks to reply to her mail.

Despite being rather relaxed with her daily regime, Debbie still suffers problems due to the explicitly political way she is treated by the wider institutions of the so-called Criminal Justice System. To give one recent example, Debbie recently asked for some suitable-for-vegans calcium supplements, and had a letter of support from the Vegan society. The CJS responded to this by claiming she was trying to intimidate the prison with threatening letters! For anyone who has dealt with agencies such as The Probation Trust before, would know that this sort of Kafkaesque approach is part and parcel of their workings, and a way they can ignore the legitimate demands of a prisoner whilst simultaneously acting punitively against them. But despite suffering from such unjust behavior, Debbie remains determine and strong, and continues to stand by her morals and beliefs. Instead of getting angry or falling into helplessness, she tries to use the system against itself. She told us: “I am always making complaints. I put in a complaint a week. Sometimes, I make complaints about complaints about complaints.”

Debbie has little more than six months left to serve in gaol. However, after that she will be released ‘on license.’ In some ways this will be harder for her than prison as she will no doubt have to reside in a hostel in a alien part of the country, be stopped from socialising with any of her friends, and be unable to involve herself in any activist or volunteer work. Along side this she will be under the constant threat of re-imprisonment merely on the suspicions of the probation service.

If you haven’t written to Debbie in the past, I would encourage you to do so now. This extra effort in prisoner solidarity towards the end of her imprisonment would be a good way of building her strength and confidence in the run up of her release. Her strength and principles really have been an inspiration to us through the last few years, and we look forward to the day we can welcome her back to the glorious struggle for animal liberation.


October 8th, 2015:

Today friends had a visit with Debbie. She is now half way through her prison sentence and at a gaol with relatively high standards. She is still working in the morning and afternoons in the gardens, and has been deemed suitable to become a ‘listener.’ Listeners are trained to assist other inmates who might be experiencing personal difficulties. Unfortunately she will not be able to start this until the new year.

In her spare time, Debbie has just started a correspondence course in animal care. This means that she has less time to answer letters and sends her apologies in this regard. She said she has a backlog of ‘about thirty’ letters to reply to so if you are expecting one she will get around to it in time. But she really does appreciate receiving letters, cards and other totems of support so please continue writing. She is also receiving letters held from her by the over officious screws at the last nick she was in.

All in all it was a good visit, and Debbie seemed really relaxed and positive. She even requested a book by a Black Panther as she liked the women’s attitude! Debbie is also continuing to challenge the prison and criminal justice system’s handling of the case and treatment of herself. I feel really proud to
know Debbie as a person, as over the last few years she has suffered some truly difficult times and hardships and has faced them with dignity and courage, becoming a principled and exemplary political prisoner.

 


We have long known that (parts of) the media can not be trusted to give fair and balanced reporting. It is clear that (some aspects of) the legal system sing to the tune of governments that are themselves working more for corporate interests than for the electorate.

This could not be more clear than in the case of Debbie Vincent.

17th April 2014: In a travesty of ‘justice’ Debbie was today sentenced to 6 years with a further 5 years Asbo, severely restricting her right and ability to campaign in any way for the concerns that she has supported for so many years. But she is resilient and her spirit of true justice will not be crushed.

Debbie & RockiesWe have known Debbie Vincent for over 20 years. She is a consistently kind and peaceful individual, with a commitment to making the world a better place for all, regardless of their species. She has dedicated a large part of her life to volunteering her time, knowledge and friendship to many grassroots projects all over the UK.

Her support for the work of Veggies, in particular in setting up networks for mutual support between those working for humans, other animals and the environment, was fundamental in establishing our role in the vegan outreach movement.

Her practical work, far beyond that expected of any volunteer, helped in the evolution of the Rainbow Centre into The Sumac Centre, which is now a base for a wide range of community projects in Nottingham and beyond. Debbie Vincent is a unique and special person and deserves all the support than can be offered to her.

 


Debbie received a six year custodial sentence plus a five year ASBO which will limit her rights to demonstrate to commence upon her release from prison.

Before handing down the sentence Judge Cutler said: “I come to a conclusion you are a lady of very good character. Indeed, if it wasn’t for your complete obsession with your cause and an inability to accept its limits within law, there was so much good you have been able to do for other people you have met in your life and for all the animal welfare work you have done.”

 


 

‘If you don’t fight, you’ve already lost’: Animal rights activist facing six years in jail remains defiant.

Support Debbie Demo in WinchesterThis Corporate Watch article, published April 17, 2014 continues…

The sentence should serve as a wake up call to anti-capitalists of the need to offer solidarity to those who have been singled out for repression because of their involvement in effective resistance to corporate power.

Corporate Watch spoke to Debbie prior to the sentencing. She said: “What is scary in this world is oppression and injustice, when people hurt people, animals and nature. What is beautiful in this world is resistance, when people say ‘enough is enough’ and act. Oppression and injustice are everywhere, but so is resistance. Because some people know that if you fight you might lose, but if you don’t fight, you’ve already lost.”

Debbie regards the use of undercover officers against her as a “sting operation”. She said she believed that Adams was “clearly part of National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit”, formerly the National Domestic Extremism Unit, “who are just a re-branding of the Special Demonstration Squad and National Public Order Intelligence Unit” and that “there is now a 25 year history of unaccountable practice by a secretive and unaccountable police unit”.

Specialised political police units aim to criminalise and imprison activists and neutralise political movements that pose a challenge to corporate power or other aspects of the current system.

When [Corporate Watch] asked Debbie if she would need any particular support from people if she got a custodial sentence, she replied: “Practically, I’m not sure what my needs will be in prison, it will depend to a degree to where I go. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to cope, but being isolated from nature and friends will be the worst part. I will try to make the best of the bad situation, it’s all a bit daunting and new. The whole charge and court case are still amazingly surreal.”

“Keep on campaigning against all oppression and capitalist domination. Don’t be afraid to speak out and never apologise for trying to make a difference.” – Debbie Vincent

Read the entire Corporate Watch article

 


Debbie was quoted by Bite Back magazine:

Prior to sentencing, Debbie said: “What is scary in this world is oppression and injustice, when people hurt people, animals and nature. What is beautiful in this world is resistance, when people say ‘enough is enough’ and act. Oppression and injustice are everywhere, but so is resistance. Because some people know that if you fight you might lose, but if you don’t fight, you’ve already lost.”

“If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.”Buddha

debbie solidarityIn her final email to friends and colleagues before sentencing, Debbie wrote:

“Thanks for all the solidarity and support. Keep on fighting to make this crazy world a better place for all. Love and liberation – Debbie xx”

Her email footer includes these quotes:

“You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.” – Abbie Hoffman

“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell”

 


There are many more endorsements of her valuable work in the animal rescue community and in support of animal rights, at the Blackmail3 support website.

Support All The Defendants

Sven & NatashaWe also remember that others in the same case, Natasha and Sven in Amsterdam, need your support.

So far their extradition to the UK has been suspended pending their Dutch appeal. Whilst the arrests, raid and case has not been easy, Sven says “I will keep my head up, stay positive and look after my loved ones.”

 


 

In an article based on an interview with Debbie, The Guardian reports:

Animal rights campaigner convicted of HLS conspiracy

Debbie Vincent says she has been made a scapegoat and criticises the Metropolitan police’s use of an undercover officer.

An animal rights campaigner convicted of taking part in a conspiracy to blackmail the research company Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) told the Guardian she is a “scapegoat” targeted because detectives cannot catch the “real culprits” who have terrorised the company and its suppliers.

Debbie Vincent, who faces up to 14 years in prison when she is sentenced next month, insisted she is a lawful and peaceful campaigner who had been found guilty of “nebulous” charges that are increasingly being used to clamp down on legitimate protest against vivisection.

In her only interview since her conviction, Vincent also criticised the way the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, SO15, planted an undercover police officer in meetings she had with healthcare company Novartis over its relationship with Cambridgeshire-based HLS.

Vincent freely admits she carried out work for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac), which has long fought to close down the HLS animal testing laboratories. But she maintains she had never taken part in acts of terror. She said: “I have been persecuted by the police. I am a public, lawful campaigner. I am being scapegoated because the police have not been able to catch or identify many of the real culprits.”

During her trial at Winchester crown court the prosecution gave a string of examples of crimes carried out against HLS suppliers and customers on continental Europe, ranging from sending incendiary devices to falsely accusing staff of being paedophiles and even digging up the urn of the mother of a senior executive at Novartis. It claimed one of Shac’s main tactics was to publish the names of possible targets, laying them open to illegal acts of intimidation and violence by extremists.

The prosecution accepted that Vincent, 52, had not herself committed direct action offences, but the jury clearly believed she was part of a wider conspiracy that enabled crimes to take place. Vincent denied the suggestion that she was a leader of Shac, arguing her work there was just part of her campaigning. For years she has travelled around the UK taking part in demonstrations and helping out at animal rescue shelters and other charities. Vincent said: “I do strongly believe that all I did was be involved in lawful campaigning against HLS.”

She said the use of conspiracy laws was having a “chilling effect” on campaigning. It meant, she claimed, that legitimate protesters could be convicted just because they had links to those who carried out attacks.

She said: “A conspiracy is nebulous and hard to grasp. The issues go further than me and could affect countless campaigners and protesters across the UK.”

Vincent, who is based in Bristol, is angry at what she sees as a smear campaign by rightwing media, who she believes used her sexuality against her.

But the depictions of Vincent in the court and in the media do not tally with the woman who emerges in dozens of letters from people who have provided references to her legal team. Farmers, vets, bosses of animal shelters and leaders of community projects spoke of a gentle, peaceful woman who was kind to both animals and humans. One read: “I have never known her act without honest or integrity and believe her motive for all she does are in the interest of justice and the greater good.”

…Vincent told the Guardian: “In some ways I’m really not surprised I was found guilty as I don’t believe anyone can get justice when faced with a political conspiracy charge and the huge resources of the state and multinationals against me. I will always have hope and will continue to try to make the world a better place to all.”

Steven Morris . The Guardian . Friday 28 March 2014


Somewhere up in Doggy Heaven, Rocky Dogs are watching over you…

Rockies

First Published on: Apr 17, 2014

Veggies @ Glastonbury 2013

Glastonbury 2013 was a big success for Veggies Catering Campaign, especially in terms of our vegan campaign outreach.

Veggies 2013 Glastonbury Gallery

On arrival we found that Veggies was sited at a key location at the entrance to the Green Futures Field, right off the Old Railway Track crossroads.

This was great to catch the people going up the track…

Glastonbury 2013

… and those coming back down:

Glastonbury 2013

Glastonbury Panorama

Click here for Lakeside view

Info for Action

Info for actonA big part of our mission was to encourage support for the many events that we attend, including Peace News Summer Camp, the Animal Rights Gathering and Reclaim the Power (No Dash for Gas) Action Camp. Veggies Catering Campaign has a unique roll in uniting movements for positive social change, catering at actions, camps and gatherings.

Other campaigns that we support, such as the Radical Routes network and the Movement for Compassionate Living were featured on impromptu displays.

Our location enabled us to highlight other activities in the Green Futures Field, such as the Speakers Forum, which featured the Lush Charity Pot Slam, and the main Green Information Point further up the track:

Glastonbury 2013

A special mention too to Zia Solar Systems that helped with the power to keep the foods as chilled as the crew!


Pulp Friction Smoothies

Pulp Friction Smoothie BikeWe were delighted to have been loaned a Pulp Friction bike to add d-i-y smoothies to the low-tech, low energy activities at Veggies at Glastonbury.

Festival goers enjoyed fresh fruit smoothies and shakes with Koko Coconut Milk.

Pulp Friction logo

Pulp Friction Smoothie Bar Project, from Nottingham, provides volunteering opportunities for young adults, taking their smoothie bikes to different community events – schools, youth clubs, playschemes, community festivals etc.

Pulp Friction Bike


Goody Good Stuff sweets – too Goody Good to walk on by!

Goody Good Stuff sweets combine the highest quality blend of ingredients including natural fruit juices and extracts which create a beautifully clear consistency and a superior taste experience. The entire line is vegetarian, fat-free, meat-free, dairy-free, nut-free, Halal and Kosher certified.


And yes…

We got to see some band…

Stones at GlastonburyStones at Glastonbury

… and slept for a week after!


To see how all this compares with our plans and expectations, see our glastonbury-badger-action-cafe posting from before the event.


Feedback

badgerOur crew are reflecting on ways to make this huge campaign outreach mission work even better in future. If you have and thought, please contact us.

– “Well, first and foremost, I think we should totally be giving ourselves a big pat of the back. Couldn’t really ask much more from a team. :)”

– Campaign space worked better than it ever has.

– In spite of some fantastic contributions to the Veggies aesthetic, our frontage and customer lounge still looked like the practical marqueue of a not-for-profit, grass roots, campaigning organization, rather than a slick professional venue (IMHO).

– Campaigning: We need to have recurring activities to draw people in like the smoothy maker, taste testings and other good ideas. They need to be on all the time as well, we had a great campaign space and people came when they could interact in some way, but when there was nothing to interact with the space seemed pretty quiet apart from staff 😉 (its Glastonbury they’ll find other things to do). We need to properly brainstorm interactive things we can have inside the space and practice them before the event (maybe use at regular events as well) and have them running as long as the space is open and draw lots of people in and get them educated or at least give them a leaflet.

– One crew member in the multi-use space just didn’t really work in my opinion, you get pulled into a conversation about the badger cull, giving a milk taster round, prepping fruit for the pedal-smoothie, clearing up the space and sign-posting people to the trailer for their coffee. If you add to that trying to start a burger demo, re-organise the merchandise, checking the honesty pots, facepaint and clean up the relishes table, it makes it impossible for 1 person in a multi-use space to do any one of those things efficiently or effectively.

– People used the cafe space when trailer crew encouraged them to, same goes for campaign space. I think if trailer crew felt more joined up with the campaign space and had those quick conversations whilst burgers were waiting or coffee brewing, it would have got a masses more traffic. It’s the point of contact, if we miss that, we miss the person.

– Integrate not just the trailer into the campaign space but the crew and the whole approach – otherwise we really are just serving burgers to rich festival punters and raising funds for Veggies (which is valid but we can do more than just that):

– Trailer crew are resourced with whatever they need to make those conversations with customers possible

– The campaign period is shortened with 2 crew on it at all times or better seek funding or other support to be able to extend the campaigning for a full 12 hours each day.

– Much clearer continuity between the Veggies trailer and the ‘badger cafe’ – customers really didn’t get that it was the same space

– I also think we should have stayed open until 5am as between midnight and 4am everyone who normally camps out around the main stages is somewhere between Arcadia, Shangra La and the stone circle.

– An additional crew member might be be better used helping in kitchen rather than than trailer, so that more cake, bhajis, pizza, soups, meals etc could be made.

– Chrissy enjoyed cooking crew meals, and didn’t mind working through til 9pm most evenings. Surplus meals might be offered on an ad-hoc basis to customers, subject to availability.

– We absolutely should have had some frontage next to Groovy Movie. We were focussed so much on grabbing attention from the cross roads we were actually closing ourselves off from people coming back down from the stone circle, or in the Green Futures Field.

– We need to think about cake display – we should keep an eye out for a two or three tiered cake display with a cover. I also think we should have had cakes, pasties and cold drinks on a table in the marquee with an honestly pot for those who did come in asking.

– The Indian place down the track was already trading when we arrived so we must be open as early as possible. On the Tuesday evening we were the only people open and we were doing steady trade throughout.

– There were times before and after the main festival was running that crew were hungry and the conventional 3 meals a day hadn’t really been considered and planned in.

– I would have liked to have a daily meeting/briefing during which ideally all crew members get together to:
… communicate the ‘extra-tasks’ and priorities of the day, and designate people to action those so everybody knows what to do and how to help
… raise any relevant issues (concerns, worries, requests for help, big-ups…) in order to facilitate communication and relieve any tension amongst ourselves as well as celebrate our hard work 😎

– The festival officially finished on Sunday night. Some of the team arrived home late on Tuesday evening.

A major part of Veggies work involves supporting the public’s interest in all the new vegan products available. Whilst not able to do sampling we were able to encourage potential customers to taste test the foods on our menu, in particular cheeses and plant milks.

Vegusto with gusto at Glasto!

Vegusto taste test

Swiss vegan manufacturers, Vegusto have created a range of ‘cheeses’ based on coconut, rapeseed and sunflower oils, almonds, cashew nuts which really do taste like cheese! And what’s more, the cheeses are not only dairy free, but gluten free, soya free and egg free too.

Bute Island – just ‘bute’ for taste testing!

bute island bute island tasting


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