*Originally published 5 May 2020* Have you ever wondered what a plant-based world looks like? Have your eyes gleamed at the possibility, but a little voice called Doubt savagely trespassed your dream? You’re not alone. After knowing the undeniable benefits of a plant-based food system, it’s difficult to ignore. However, the scale of this mission is intimidating and can often leave you feeling worse off. That’s why we are so excited to bring to you Geraldine Starke from Refarm’d who is bringing us one step closer to a plant-based world. Geraldine dreamt of making an animal sanctuary but struggled with the fact that sanctuaries rely heavily on donations to operate and are tough to scale up i.e. helping more and more animals out[…]
The Rebellion Has Brought the Climate Crisis to the Forefront… Now It Is Time to Address Speciesism
So far Extinction Rebellion and Animal Rebellion have had so much to celebrate. They have achieved great things. Before Extinction Rebellion, the existential threat climate change poses wasn’t widely discussed in popular culture or taken seriously. In the space of a few months XR changed the tone of that conversation forever. This is a massive shift and a great achievement that we can take pride in. We can also celebrate its effectiveness Talk must produce results, and as I write this there is an election coming and climate change is now an election issue even for mainstream parties. Also, the UK government plans a citizens’ assembly to look at the climate emergency (albeit watered down from what has been demanded). This is a result![…]
Supertrawlers: The Boats You Didn’t Know Are Ruining Our Seas
*Originally published 4 December 2019* Have you heard of super trawlers before? Super trawlers are massive fishing boats that haphazardly capture, freeze and store thousands of tonnes of fish and other sea life. They are notorious for wiping out fish stocks and contributing to large scale extermination of dolphins, seahorses, whales, and turtles. But their damage doesn’t stop there. Most UK fishing rights are currently in the hands of a few elite. FIVE families, all of whom can be found in the Times Rich List own super trawlers and control 29% of the UK’s fishing quota. Unsurprisingly, over half of the 25 top profiting fishing businesses were involved in evading designated quotas during the Black Fish Scandal, worth over £63m. Supertrawler Margiris[…]
Intensive Animal Farming Operations Are Rapidly Expanding around the UK and DEFRA’s Farm Subsidies Are Largely to Blame
*Originally published 30 November 2019* How is it possible that while there is increasing scientific knowledge and public concern about the catastrophic impact of factory farming on the earth, animals, and human beings, DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is not reducing, as it should be, but is in fact increasing subsidies for factory farms? A joint investigation by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigation discovered that factory farm operators were granted approximately £70 million of public money between in 2016 and 2017. The types of operations that received subsidies include: “Feedlot-style beef units, rearing thousands of cattle in outdoor yards; so-called megadairies, with herds of up to 1,800 cows; Intensive egg producers using cage housing systems; poultry megafarms and pig units which[…]
What Anti-speciesist Rewilding Looks Like — and How to Get There
*Originally published 10 September 2019* Okay, imagine it is year X, when animal products are almost universally seen as unnecessary, unhealthy and a product of a particularly cruel period in our relationship with the planet and its other inhabitants. This is the year when most people shudder in disgust at what only recently was accepted as the norm. The food production system is being completely restructured, with fishers continuing their transition from killing marine animals to planting and harvesting kelp, while farmers are now producing plants for human consumption only. We no longer breed animals in their billions, we no longer subject them to a life of enslavement, and we no longer sentence them to death on the grounds that[…]
Red Tractor: Assuring Animal Cruelty
*Originally published 19 October 2019* Rather than ensuring farm standards, Red Tractor fools the unaware consumer into supporting animal cruelty. ‘Facts are irrelevant. What matters is what the consumer believes’, said Seth Godin, American author and business executive. Animal agriculture and its representatives are well aware of this fact and consumers’ desire to be reassured that the products they purchase are ethical and of high quality. But how many are aware that labels, assurance schemes and terms such as ‘humane’ and ‘farm fresh’ mean very little for the 6.4 billion animals killed for food in the UK every single year? Animal Rebellion has been protesting at the headquarters of Red Tractor, a product certification programme that is made up of a[…]
Where Is the Compassion for Sentient Marine Animals in the Fishing Industry?
*Originally published 12 October 2019* As Animal Rebellion activists invite Billingsgate Fish Market into dialogue on the climate crisis and the plight of the the 2.3 trillion marine animals killed every year, we look at this often forgotten victims of our current food system. It’s easy to forget about fish or to dissociate ourselves from them and them from food, unlike cows, pigs, and sheep, which we see all around us in the landscape. When we order a salmon steak in a nice restaurant, collect a battered cod from the local chippy, or buy our favourite mackerel pate in the supermarket, we’re not usually thinking of these aquatic animals as sentient beings. It’s not often covered in the media that fish are[…]
What is Animal Rebellion’s Relationship with Extinction Rebellion?
*Originally published 6 September 2019* Our origins Animal Rebellion came into being to make sure that everyone who cares deeply about animals and the planet knows that, in the coming October Rebellion, there is a group representing them. A group made up of all of us. Many of you were already asking: what about the animals? Many of you were waiting for Animal Rebellion to come along. So here we are. Most of us who formed Animal Rebellion were already involved in other animal justice groups such as Save, Animal Justice Project, AV, Hunt Sabs, and local action groups, as well as animal advocates from academia, the media, and other walks of life. We knew that, as people who care[…]
Why 10,000 Animal Rebels are Occupying Smithfield Market in October
*Originally published 21 August 2019* The Official Animal Rights March on Saturday 17th August was an incredible day, being both uplifting and motivating, heart-breaking and full of love. It was also our launch, the official first action of Animal Rebellion. And as a wholly new movement, there were of course many questions about who we are and what we’re about. Some of these ranged from: why is an animal justice movement foregrounding climate breakdown, and not the animals? Why aren’t we talking about cruelty to animals more? Do we only care about farmed animals? And why announce Smithfield Market as the October target so soon? We’re going to answer all of these questions. As a brand-new organisation, it’s incredible how quickly we’ve grown. While those involved[…]
Announcing The Garden City: Our Space in this Rebellion for October
*Originally published 27 September 2019* Today we officially share the announcement of our second site for the Rebellion, our Garden City camp at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) in Westminster. Below we talk about the important way our linked actions at the two main sites, ‘The Garden City’ at Defra and our ‘Vision for the Future’ at Smithfield, work together to send a powerful message to government. We need government to #TellTheTruth and #ActNow on the climate, ecological and animal emergencies. And we need you to deliver this message. Below we also give you all the key information you need to know for arriving on Monday 7th, then for the first 36 hours at Smithfield, and then for setting up our Garden City. Read[…]