On the 30th March Animal Rights campaigners protested inside the McDonalds restaurant in the city centre of Cambridge, the protesters were dressed as cows and ate food that does not contain animal products. They held a banner and distributed leaflets. The event fell within Animal Aid’s veggie month and aimed to highlight the issues associated with the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products.
The protesters hope to highlight the benefits of a diet free from animal products including the highly topical issue of child obesity that is linked to saturated animal fats. A 17-year-old campaigner from the group said, “McDonalds and other fast-food outlets have become synonymous with unhealthy food, a great way children and young people can improve their health is the progression to a balanced plant based diet”
The campaigners also wish to highlight the fact that animal agriculture is a huge contributing factor to climate change. “A report by The Food and Agricultural Organisation Of the United Nations says that animal agriculture causes more greenhouse gas emissions than cars, when the UN is saying this, surely its time for environmentalists to sit up and take note”
However the focus of their campaigns is not forgotten in all of this, animals, who are kept in terrible conditions, in most cases on factory farms. “Britain is often considered a nation of animal lovers, yet we still treat animals in a way we would not deem acceptable for prisoners of war, this is true even if the product meets so-called ‘ethical’ standards”.
The group hope people will think about cutting down on their consumption of animal products or cut them out completely, free vegetarian starter kits are available from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) from http://www.vegetarianstarterkit.co.uk
People interested in helping animals who live in Cambridge, may wish to join Animal Rights Cambridge, who are open to new members and meet on the 4th Monday in the Month at the Bath House just off Mill Road.
The Animal Rights Cambridge web site is http://animalrightscambridge.bravehost.com/