Lauren Jones
Vegan activists calling for a plant-based future recently targeted UK supermarkets and poured milk from the supermarket shelves onto the floor. The form of protest, dubbed as a ‘milk pour’, has sparked much controversy.
It is increasingly difficult to look past the action to find support for the demonstrations.
Nationwide Protests
On Saturday 15th October, Animal Rebellion organised protest action at various high-end UK supermarkets across the UK, in London, Manchester, Norwich, and Edinburgh.
Members of the movement targeted dairy aisles and poured milk from supermarket shelves onto the floor as part of their campaign for “a just, sustainable plant-based food system.” Responses to the action included arrests and clashes with security guards, as well as an outpouring of objection on Twitter.
“Not all publicity is good publicity”
Animal Rebellion, which focuses on non-traditional forms of protest, over the more traditional methods of writing to MPs and petitions, certainly attracted a lot of attention with this protest action.
But not all publicity is good publicity, and a milk pour is hard to support because of the food waste it necessitates, especially in light of the current cost-of-living crisis.
Food Waste in a Cost-of-Living Crisis
According to the Big Issue, 18.4% of UK households have experienced food insecurity over the course of the last month. As such this food insecurity is having a direct effect on approximately four million children in the UK.
Even for those not experiencing food poverty, plant-based alternatives are far less affordable than cow’s milk: at Sainsbury’s, cow’s milk can be purchased as cheaply as 64p per litre, whereas soya or almond alternative costs £1.30 per litre and £1.15 per litre respectively.
This means that even if people are financially able to buy milk, a non-dairy alternative is not necessarily an affordable option.
“Blatant and deliberate food waste”
Regardless of your opinion towards the aims of Animal Rebellion’s milk pour protest, it’s impossible to deny that pouring milk on a supermarket floor is blatant and deliberate food waste.
With some of Animal Rebellion’s members admitting that their privilege has benefitted them previously in protest and arrest situations, this protest action – namely pouring foodstuffs onto the floor that some people can’t even afford, and that many certainly can’t afford to waste – is in bad taste to say the very least.
While food waste and the cost-of-living crisis are not among Animal Rebellion’s primary concerns. The movement’s decision to blatantly ignore the challenges that cost-of-living poses for so many people has deepened the chasm between protesters and the general public.
This does not facilitate discussion between protesters and the public but instead has resulted in protesters appearing entitled and out of touch.
Who is affected by this protest?
“Milk pours don’t target those who have the power to meet demands”
Milk pouring as a form of protest is misdirected and unjust. It doesn’t target those who have the power to meet Animal Rebellion’s demands.
Pouring milk over a supermarket floor means that a worker, who is most likely on national minimum wage, will be negatively affected because they will end up mopping up the spilt milk.
The supermarket chains will lose some margin of profit because the spilt milk is unsellable. Still, this profit is marginal for a company as huge as Waitrose, which had a revenue of £7,043.9 million in 2021.
Most importantly, the milk pours do not affect the government, which has the power to change the legislation that surrounds animal rights, sustainability, farming, and climate protection. In this sense, milk pouring as a protest method is rather performative.
Milk Pours bring the shock factor
While it is important and admirable that there are people fighting for climate protection and animal rights, milk pouring isn’t the way to go. It just demonstrates that those protesting are out of touch with the general population.
The argument that milk pours raise awareness and bring attention to climate and animal rights issues is rather flimsy when the milk pours waste animal products that have already been produced and have little economic consequence for large supermarket chains.
Regardless of personal opinion on veganism and plant-based products, it is hard to support a protest that essentially just boils down to a publicity stunt that makes everyday workers’ lives harder. It’s hard to move past the feeling that this protest caused a momentary shock rather than creating spaces for further discussion about the benefits of a plant-based future.
Featured image courtesy of cottonbro on Pexels. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Lauren Jones
Lauren is an Au Pair and a recent languages graduate. She is an aspiring journalist and is particularly interested in politics, social issues, and the arts.
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