Animal rights activists have blockaded four McDonald’s distribution centres in England, holding protest materials reading demands for a “plant based food system” and claiming “meat & dairy = climate crisis”.
Animal Rebellion has blocked four distribution centres in Basingstoke, Coventry, Hemel Hempstead, and Heywood in Greater Manchester in an attempt to stop deliveries on Saturday to the country’s 1,300 fast-food restaurants.
The animal rights group said it was targeting McDonald’s for its alleged “role in the climate emergency” and demands the burger chain commit to being fully plant-based by 2025, according to the BBC.
COVENTRY, ENGLAND – MAY 22: Animal rights protesters from Animal Rebellion blockade a McDonald’s distribution centre to stop deliveries to the fast-food chain’s 1,300 UK outlets on May 22, 2021 in Coventry, England. Animal Rebellion said about 50 activists were using trucks and bamboo structures to stop lorries leaving depots in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood, Greater Manchester. (Photo by Darren Staples/Getty Images)
Animal Rebellion spokesman James Ozden, who is protesting in Coventry, told the broadcaster: “The only sustainable and realistic way to feed 10 billion people is with a plant-based food system. Organic, free-range and ‘sustainable’ animal-based options simply aren’t good enough.”
The protesters plan to be at the sites for the next 24 hours. A McDonald’s spokesman said that it was assessing the impact of the protest on its deliveries and apologised to its customers.
COVENTRY, ENGLAND – MAY 22: An animal rights protester from Animal Rebellion blockades a McDonald’s distribution centre to stop deliveries to the fast-food chain’s 1,300 UK outlets on May 22, 2021 in Coventry, England. Animal Rebellion said about 50 activists were using trucks and bamboo structures to stop lorries leaving depots in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood, Greater Manchester. (Photo by Darren Staples/Getty Images)
In a video posted on Twitter, an Animal Rebellion activist claimed: “We’re just in a massive crisis right now. Things need to change quickly and drastically.”
Another protesting in Coventry alleged: “We are in the middle of a climate and ecological emergency and we are still consuming huge quantities of meat on a scale that is just not sustainable for our planet.”
COVENTRY, ENGLAND – MAY 22: Animal rights protesters from Animal Rebellion blockade a McDonald’s distribution centre to stop deliveries to the fast-food chain’s 1,300 UK outlets on May 22, 2021 in Coventry, England. Animal Rebellion said about 50 activists were using trucks and bamboo structures to stop lorries leaving depots in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood, Greater Manchester. (Photo by Darren Staples/Getty Images)