McDonald’s shutdown: Animal Rebellion blockades UK distribution centres
The Animal Rebellion blockade at the McDonald’s distribution centre in Coventry, UK | Credit: Animal Rebellion
Activists from Animal Rebellion have this morning blockaded four distribution centres supplying what they say is around 1,300 McDonalds restaurants across the UK.
According to one activist broadcasting live from Hemel Hempstead, there are no other distribution centres meaning that the action is likely to impact all restaurants in some way, all serving an estimated 3.8 million people per day.
Using bamboo structures and trucks, activists set up blockades in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood from around 4.30am this morning, reportedly vowing to stay for at least 24 hours “until we speak with the CEO of McDonald's about their transition to a fully plant-based menu.”
“McDonald's is one of the most well-known symbols of the meat and dairy industry. They contribute to the deaths of billions of animals per year, fund the destruction of the Amazon and fuel meat and dairy production; one of the leading causes of the climate crisis. Yet they’re not our only target - we’re coming for the rest of the animal agriculture industry too,” the campaign group stated via social media.
Since 2019, Animal Rebellion has campaigned primarily for an end to animal agriculture and a transition to a plant-based food system within the context of climate justice using nonviolent civil disobedience tactics such as protests, sit-ins, marches and blockades.
With the G7 in Cornwall coming up in June, the McDonald’s blockade today is likely to be part of a ramping up in actions leading up to the summit, where world leaders will meet to discuss a range of issues from international border disputes to the coronavirus pandemic.
High on the G7 agenda will be ‘climate resilience and adaptation’, and with politicians and global institutions finally waking up to the part that animal agriculture has to play in the current climate crisis, now is the time for campaign groups to act and draw attention to leading contributors such as McDonald’s.
“The meat and dairy industry is destroying our planet: causing huge amounts of rainforest deforestation, emitting immense quantities of greenhouse gases and killing billions of animals each year,” Animal Rebellion spokesman James Ozden told the Guardian.
“The only sustainable and realistic way to feed ten billion people is with a plant-based food system. Organic, free-range and ‘sustainable’ animal-based options simply aren’t good enough.”
Sign Animal Rebellion’s petition to join the call - McDonald's Go Plant-Based by 2025!
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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