On Saturday 3rd, posters appeared on the front window of Tesco at the Triangle in Bournemouth, exposing how Tesco sells industrial meat linked to forest destruction. The posters were accompanied by a letter from Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven, to make sure that the new Global CEO Ken Murphy gets the message that customers want Tesco to drop forest destroyers from their supply chains and reduce the amount of meat they sell by at least half – starting from phasing out industrial meat.
Alasdair Keddie from Queens Park said, “I found it impossible to simply walk past this shocking image of the Amazon burning to clear land to produce industrial meat. The message to Tesco’s new CEO Ken Murphy couldn’t be clearer. Tesco must drop forest destroyers altogether and stop selling industrial meat.’’ This year, the fire season in the Amazon has kicked off with worrying intensity, with the highest number recorded in August since 2007. Many fires which are destroying the Amazon and other forests are started deliberately to clear land to graze cattle or grow soya. Protecting the Amazon is essential in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, protect the homes of indigenous people and wildlife, and reduce the risk of future pandemics.
Tesco promised to end its part in deforestation for commodities such as soya by 2020, but in 2018 it quietly changed that goal to 2025 and still has not published a credible plan to show how this will be achieved. Much of the chicken and pork on its shelves is fed on Brazilian soya, and produced by companies owned by JBS, the world’s biggest meat packing company, which has been repeatedly linked to deforestation in the Amazon, as well as human rights violations.
Mr Keddie continued, “The Amazon is more than 5000 miles away, but the products in our local Tesco and on our dinner plates are fuelling rainforest destruction. I stopped eating meat because I cannot keep eating products that I know have contributed to the destruction of the beautiful, biodiverse Amazon rainforest. If we all reduce our meat consumption, we can help save the planet’s important wild places and tackle the climate emergency. Please join me in eating less meat, and sign our petition to supermarket chains and fast food companies on cutting forest destroyers from their supply chains.’’
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